Research Ethics

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Research Ethics

• MM Clements

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Introduction

• Group Work ground rules
• Research
• Ethics what are they?
• Ethics before, during and after research
• Engineering and research ethics
• Plagiarism University of Greenwich, the law and
  YOU

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Group Discussion Tasks

• Form yourselves into small groups
• How large is a group
• There must be enough members to generate ideas
  but not so many as to cause difficulties in
  communications
• What difficulties could you forsee?
• n(n-1) communication channels
• Noise generated by large groups
• Sub-group arguments

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Group Work Rules
DISCUSS

• Any slide that has DISCUSS must be considered by
  the group verbally
• Keep notes who will keep notes?
• Post discussion Reflection
• Did your group reach a consensus on any, some or
  all of the questions raised?
• What difficulties did you face with group
  management?

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Debriefing

• Next week I hope to be able to debrief you
• Bring along a summary of your discussions
• State any ethical problems you faced in this task
• Try to define the value of the task
• Describe any other issues (ethical or logical)
  that you may have discovered during your group
  discussions

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What is Research?

• Gathering of data
• From people
• From statistics
• From refereed publications etc.
• Field observations
• Collating data
• Writing report or paper for publication
• Possible deliverable as a direct result

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Why Research?
DISCUSS

• For the common good?
• For fame?
• To increase the sum of human knowledge?
• To help other people live better lives?
• For money e.g. contracted research?
• What other reasons could there be to carry out
  research?

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Ethics a definition

• Research should avoid causing harm, distress,
  anxiety, pain or any other negative feeling to
  participants. Participants should be fully
  informed about all relevant aspects of the
  research, before they agree to take part 1

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ARE YOU HOMOSEXUAL?
THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION - DO NOT ANSWER
THIS
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Research questions ethical or not?
DISCUSS

• Research may ask a taboo or personal question
• What if you were asked if you are homosexual
• How would you feel if you were asked this?
• Would you feel awkward?
• Would you lie?
• Would you answer truthfully?
• Why are we asking this question anyway?
• Could we phrase the question better?

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Consequentialism

• Consequentialism refers to those moral
  theories which hold that the consequences of a
  particular action form the basis for any valid
  moral judgment about that action. Thus, from a
  consequentialist standpoint, a morally right
  action is one that produces a good outcome, or
  consequence. 2

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Pause for thought
DISCUSS

• Is it morally correct to carry out research by
  any means whatsoever providing that the end
  result increases the sum of human knowledge or
  provides some tangible benefit to mankind?
• Does the end justify the means?

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Ethics before Research begins

• Inform all participants fully
• What about children
• Mentally deficient people
• Those with poor language skills
• Obtain consent
• Define the gatekeeper
• Craft your research methods carefully
• No distortion of the data

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Ethics during Research
DISCUSS

• Field notes what are they?
• Do we need these?
• Can we use these in our research?
• Consent issues
• Content issues
• Moral issues
• You have heard about a crime do you report it?

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Counselling Respondents
DISCUSS

• You hear something from a respondent that makes
  you believe he/ she is distressed
• Should you offer counselling?
• Would this distort the research?
• Are you qualified to act as a counsellor?
• 3 Knight 2002 171-2

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Confidentiality of respondent data
DISCUSS

• How do we keep track of respondents?
• Should we keep track of respondents?
• How do we de-personalise gathered data?
• If data are depersonalised, is it morally correct
  to reuse this data for a new research project?

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Ethics after Research
DISCUSS

• Disposal of data paper or digital?
• Freedom of Information Act
• Reuse of data is this ethical?
• Are there occasions where reuse of gathered data
  for another purpose is ok?
• Requesting permission from respondents
• Difficulties of contacting original respondents

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Use of ICT for Communication

• Does ICT help or hinder research?
• Consider typical email content or SMS
• This is becoming brief and losing clarity c.f.
  surface mail in the past
• How does the receiver perceive the email/ SMS?
• Is it valid/ ethical to use these forms of
  communication during research?

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Engineering and Ethics
DISCUSS

• Confidentiality of data
• Ownership of research results
• Consider research results
• Is a cure for a disease as the direct result of
  research good?
• Is the creation of a powerful bomb as the direct
  result of research good?
• e.g. the atom bomb

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Research Ethics Committees

• Monitor ethical issues in research programmes
• Before during and after research
• Makes decisions and enforces these
• Gives researchers organisational support
• Reassurance to researchers about moral issues
  related to a particular research project

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Plagiarism
DISCUSS

• What is plagiarism?
• How do we avoid plagiarism?
• What are the dangers that plagiarism causes?
• State some examples of plagiarism.

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Conclusion

• Ethics are moral issues relating to the prior
  design, gathering and usage of data for research
  purposes
• Think before, during and after
• Consult gatekeepers and respondents
• Never act alone consult your supervisor if in
  doubt

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References

• 1 Oliver P, (2008) Research Ethics, OU Press
• 2 http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_justifies_the
  _means 23/11/08
• 3 Knight P.T. (2002) Small Scale Research,
  London Sage