Final Year Projects

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Final Year Projects

• 6 Ethical concerns

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Final Year Projects

• What are Research Ethics?
• (Saunders et. al)
• Ethics refers to the appropriateness of your
  behaviour in relation to the rights of those who
  become the subject of your work, or are affected
  by it

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Final Year Projects

• Ethical issues can arise
• in the research process generally
• during the design and initial access stages
• during data collection
• in the analysis and reporting stages

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Final Year Projects

• The research process generally (1)
• Privacy of possible participants
• must be voluntary
• no deception should be involved and consent
  should be informed consent

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Final Year Projects

• The research process generally (2)
• maintenance of confidentiality
• reactions to the way in which data is
  collected
• effects on participants
• behaviour and objectivity of researchers

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Final Year Projects

• Ethical issues during design and initial access
• There should be no pressure to participate
• Strictest confidence to be applied to all
  data obtained
• For informed consent the purpose and the
  nature of the results need to be fully explained

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Final Year Projects

• during the data collection phase (1)
• Right not to take part
• Data to be recorded accurately and fully
• Confidentiality to be respected
• Use of the internet full of dangers (best to
  avoid)

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Final Year Projects

• during the data collection phase (2)
• In qualitatively-based work, greater attention
  needs to be paid to ethical principles
• covert approaches hardly ever justified (at
  undergraduate level)

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Final Year Projects

• during analysis process
• Do not inadvertently reveal participants
  identities (job functions will suffice)
• personal data should not be collected (so as
  not fall foul of data Protection legislation)

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Final Year Projects

• What do I need to do?
• consider ethical consequences
• write it up in a methodology section
• have it agreed by your FYP supervisor
• include it in your Interim Report

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And finally.
Any questions?