1

BSN/NURSING RESEARCH 2 (NCM 115)

Academic Year: 2021-2022, 2nd Semester
(8:00-11:00 W)

MODULE # 3

ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the concept of ethics.

2. Describe the three major principles of ethics in research.

Learning Contents:

All research involves ethical considerations. Such concerns do not mean that the research is unethical but rather
that the researcher must do whatever she or he can to minimize ethical risks.
Researchers involved with human participants are sometimes in a difficult situation.
They are obligated to advance knowledge and develop high-quality evidence for practice; however, they
must also adhere to ethical rules that have been developed to protect human rights.
There are research problems in which participants’ rights and study demands are put in direct conflict,
posing ethical dilemmas for researchers.

Codes of Ethics

Some of the most well-known codes of ethics include:

1. The Nuremberg Code (1947)
2. The Declaration of Helsinki (1964, World Medical Association)
3. The Belmont Report (1979)
4. Ethical Guidelines in the Conduct, Dissemination, and Implementation of Nursing Research (1995, American
Nurses’ Association)

The Nuremberg Code is concerned with several criteria for research including the following:
1. Researcher must inform subjects about the study
2. Research must be for the good of society
3. Research must be based on animal experiments, if possible
4. Researcher must try to avoid injury to research subjects
5. Researcher must be qualified to conduct research
6. Subjects or the researcher can stop the study if problems occur

The Nuremberg Code was the leading code for all subsequent codes made to protect human rights in research.
The only weak point of this code was the self-regulation of researchers which can be abused in some research
studies.

The Declaration of Helsinki emphasized the protection of subjects in this kind of research and strongly
proclaimed that the well-being of individuals is more important than scientific and social interests.

In 1979, the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research

Engr. Manuel S. Tumalad mstumalad@gmail.com 0915 879 1419

 2

(also called the Belmont Commission) defined ethical principles for the protection of human subjects of
research.
The report published by this commission was titled “The Belmont Report.”

The three major ethical principles incorporated into most guidelines are:
1. Beneficence;
2. Respect for human dignity; and
3. Justice

The Principle of Beneficence

‘Above all, do no harm.’

Beneficence involves:
1. The protection of participants from physical and psychological harm;
2. The protection of participants from exploitation; and
3. Benefits from research.

Freedom from Harm 

Study participants can be harmed in a variety of ways, including: 
1. Physical (e.g., injury, fatigue);
2. Psychological (e.g., stress, fear);
3. Social (e.g., loss of friends); and
4. Economic (e.g., loss of earnings)

Researchers can avoid or minimize psychological harm by:

  1. Carefully phrasing questions; or
2. Debriefing sessions where participants may ask questions or air complaints after data are collected; or
Debriefing is a meeting with research participants that ensures their understanding of the reasons and
justification for the procedure used in the study.
3. Making referrals to appropriate health, social, or psychological services.

Freedom from Exploitation

Participants need to be assured that their participation, or the information that they might provide, will not be
used against them in any way.

Benefits from Research

Researchers should strive insofar as possible to maximize benefits and to communicate potential benefits to
participants.
In deciding to conduct a study, researchers must carefully weigh the risk/benefit ratio of the risk to
participants against potential benefits to society.
The general guideline is that the degree of risk to be taken by those participating in the research should
never exceed the humanitarian benefits of the knowledge to be gained.

Major Potential Benefits to Participants

1. Access to an intervention that might otherwise be unavailable to them
2. Comfort in being able to discuss their situations or problems with a friendly, objective person
3. Increased knowledge about themselves or their conditions

Engr. Manuel S. Tumalad mstumalad@gmail.com 0915 879 1419

 3

4. Escape from normal routine

5. Satisfaction that the information they provide may help others with similar problems or conditions
6. Direct monetary or material gains (e.g., stipends, incentives)

Major Potential Risks to Participants

1. Physical harm, including unanticipated side effects;
2. Physical discomfort, fatigue or boredom;
3. Psychological or emotional distress resulting from
• self-disclosure
• introspection
• fear of the unknown
• discomfort with strangers
• fear of eventual repercussions
• anger or embarrassment at the type of questions being asked
4. Social risks, like:
• risk of stigma
• adverse effects on social relationships
• loss of status
• loss of privacy
• loss of time
• monetary costs (e.g., transportation, time lost from work)

The Principle of Respect for Human Dignity

Respect for human dignity involves the participants’ right to self-determination and the right to full disclosure.

The Right to Self-Determination

This means that prospective participants have the right to decide voluntarily whether to participate in a study,
without risking any penalty or prejudicial treatment.
This might include freedom from coercion of any type.
Coercion involves explicit or implicit threats of penalty from failing to participate in a study, or excessive rewards
from agreeing to participate.

The Right to Full Disclosure

This means that researchers have fully described to prospective participants their rights and the full nature of the
study.
When full disclosure poses the risk of biased results, researchers sometimes use as a last resort:
 Covert data collection or concealment (the collection of information without the participants’ knowledge or
consent); or
 Deception (either withholding information from participants, or providing them false information). 
Deception may take two forms:
1. Passive deception (half-truth)
2. Active deception (untruth)
Passive deception (half-truth) occurs when the researcher omits information to participants.
Active deception (untruth) occurs when the researcher actually tells lies to the participants.

Engr. Manuel S. Tumalad mstumalad@gmail.com 0915 879 1419

 4

The Principle of Justice

Justice includes:
 the right to fair treatment; and
 the right to privacy.

Fair treatment includes the following features:

 Non-discriminatory selection of participants such that any risks and benefits will be equitably shared;
 Respect for cultural and other forms of diversity;
 Non-prejudicial treatment of those who decline to participate;
 Honoring of all agreements between researchers and participants, including payment of any promised
stipends;
 Participants’ access to research personnel at any point in the study to clarify information;
 Participants’ access to appropriate professional assistance if there is any physical or psychological damage;
 Debriefing, if necessary, to divulge psychological or emotional distress
 Courteous and tactful treatment at all times.

Privacy is the freedom an individual has to determine the time, extent, and general circumstances under which
private information will be shared with or withheld from others.
The right to privacy means: 
 Freedom not to have personal information disclosed publicly;
 Freedom to determine how much personal information (personal attributes, actions, beliefs) to
disclose

Anonymity refers to the act of keeping individuals nameless in relation to their participation in a research
project.
Anonymity occurs when no one (not even the researcher) can link participants to the data they provided.

Confidentiality refers to the researcher’s responsibility to protect all data gathered within the scope of the
project from being divulged to others.
It involves protection of the subject’s identity by the researcher.

Informed Consent
Informed consent is the process of providing an individual with sufficient understandable information regarding
his or her participation in a research project.
Informed consent means that participants have adequate information regarding the research, are capable of
comprehending the information, and have the power of free choice, enabling them to consent or to decline
participation voluntarily.
The participants should be informed of:
 The nature, duration and purpose of the experiment;
 The method and means by which it is to be conducted;
 All inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected;
 The effect upon his health or person which may possibly result from participation in the experiment

Vulnerable groups include:

1. Children
2. Mentally or emotionally disturbed people
3. Severely ill or physically disabled people (e.g., deaf, blind)
4. The terminally ill

Engr. Manuel S. Tumalad mstumalad@gmail.com 0915 879 1419

 5

5. Institutionalized people e.g., those in prison, orphanages, or mental facilities)

6. Pregnant women

Assent means that an underage child or adolescent freely chooses to participate in a study.

Sources/References:

Polit, D. & Beck, C. (2004). Nursing research: Principles and methods (7 th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins.

Engr. Manuel S. Tumalad mstumalad@gmail.com 0915 879 1419