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    1.7 Ethics in Research

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    margierosah35
    The document discusses ethics in research and defines ethics as well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do. It identifies major ethical issues in conducting research such as informed consent, beneficence, non-maleficence, anonymity, honesty and trust, confidentiality, privacy, and respect.

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    1.7 Ethics in Research

    Uploaded by

    margierosah35
    6 views3 pages
    The document discusses ethics in research and defines ethics as well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do. It identifies major ethical issues in conducting research such as informed consent, beneficence, non-maleficence, anonymity, honesty and trust, confidentiality, privacy, and respect.

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    Ethics

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    1.7 ETHICS IN RESEARCH

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    The document discusses ethics in research and defines ethics as well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do. It identifies major ethical issues in conducting research such as informed consent, beneficence, non-maleficence, anonymity, honesty and trust, confidentiality, privacy, and respect.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    6 views3 pages

    1.7 Ethics in Research

    Uploaded by

    margierosah35
    The document discusses ethics in research and defines ethics as well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do. It identifies major ethical issues in conducting research such as informed consent, beneficence, non-maleficence, anonymity, honesty and trust, confidentiality, privacy, and respect.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    1.

    7 ETHICS IN RESEARCH

    Introduction

    There are mixed views on what ethics is. Some think ethics:

    Has to do with what people‘s feelings tell them is right or wrong.


    Has to do with one’s religious beliefs
    Is doing what the law requires
    Consists of the standards of behaviour our society accepts
    Ethics is not about what people‘s feelings tell them; sometimes our feelings make us do
    wrong. Ethics is not about behaving according to one‘s religion; people have committed
    atrocities in the name of regions.
    Ethics is also not the same as following the law; some laws are ruthless and draconian.
    Ethics is not the same as doing whatever society accepts, because although in any society
    most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical, standards of behaviour in a society
    can deviate from what is ethical and an entire society can become ethically corrupt.

    What is Ethics?

    Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that
    prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to
    society, fairness, or specific virtues.
    Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to
    refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
    Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and
    loyalty. Ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the
    right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy.
    Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent
    and well-founded reasons.
    Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards.
    As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical.
    So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable
    and well-founded.
    Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our
    moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live
    up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.
    In short, ethics are moral principles that govern a person's behaviour.
    It is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans
    ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or
    specific virtues.

    Ethical Issues in Conducting Research

    The major ethical issues in conducting research are:

    a) Informed consent: a Researcher must obtain permission for the research, and must inform
    the subject of their voluntary participation, and that they are able to withdraw from the research
    at any time without penalty.

    b) Beneficence: The Researcher should communicate the benefits of the research to the
    participants and honour the obligation to deliver such benefits.

    c) Non-maleficence: The research should be able to conduct his research in a manner that
    would not harm the participants as a result of their participation in the research.

    d) Anonymity: the researcher should be able to conceal the identity of the participants when
    asked to do so, and depending on the nature of the research. Pseudonyms can be used to observe
    anonymity.

    e) Honesty and trust: The researcher should act with utmost honesty by only doing with his
    research what he said he/she would, so as to gain trust from the participants.

    f) Confidentiality: The Researcher should be able to protect the information of the


    participants so that unauthorised persons do not get access to it.
    g) Privacy: The researcher has the noble obligation to observe the privacy of subjects of the
    research.

    h) Respect: The researcher has the obligation to treat research subject with utmost respect

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