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Quarter 3 – Module 2:
Characteristics, Processes and
Ethics of Research
Practical Research 1 – Grade 11
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 3 – Module 2: Characteristics, Processes and Ethics of Research
First Edition, 2020
Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of
the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such
agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.
Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders.
Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their
respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership
over them.
Team Leaders:
School Head : Marijoy B. Mendoza, EdD
LRMDS Coordinator : Karl Angelo R. Tabernero
Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-
step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.
In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teacher are also
provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they can
best help you on your home-based learning.
Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part
of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and tests. And
read the instructions carefully before performing each task.
If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the
tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.
Thank you.
What I Need to Know
At the end of this module, you are expected to learn the following
competencies:
1. describe the characteristics of research;
2. illustrate the processes of research; and
3. define ethics in research.
1
What I Know
Read and analyze the following statements carefully. Write FACT if you think
the statement is correct, and BLUFF if incorrect. Write your answers on your
notebook.
__________ 4. Any unusual phenomenon may happen and can turn into a
potential problem.
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Lesson
1 Characteristics of Research
In the previous lessons, you were oriented with the definition of research along
with its importance in daily life. Aside from them, you also need to know the
characteristics of research because they will guide you in crafting your own.
What’s In
1. E S M T S A C T Y I
2. E O C V J T E B I
3. S F A E I L E B
4. C E P A I R L I M
5. A R C E L
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Notes to the Teacher
This module prepares the learners to be acquainted with the
different characteristics, processes and ethics of research that will
guide them in writing their own research in the future.
What’s New
As a senior high school student, you are required to study a few research
subjects and conduct a research either individually or collaboratively. But, do
you know how to make a good one? Well, this module will surely help you to
achieve your goal.
In this lesson, you will be oriented about the five basic characteristics of
research (Cristobal & Cristobal 2017). There may be a lot of characteristics
stated by other authors in other references but let us only focus on the
following characteristics rooted from the given definitions of research in the
previous module.
What is It
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while the latter consists of various elements detailing the contents
of each part.
What’s More
5
What I Have Learned
What are the five basic characteristics of research? Write your answers on
your notebook.
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________
5. ____________________
What I Can Do
2. The researcher does not follow the standard format in writing the research
paper.
Characteristic disregarded: ____________________________________________
Suggestion: ___________________________________________________________
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4. The researcher thinks of an implausible problem to solve.
Characteristic disregarded: ____________________________________________
Suggestion: ___________________________________________________________
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Assessment
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Additional Activities
Choose one among the five characteristics of research and explain how you
can apply it in writing your own research. Express your answer in at least five
sentences. Write your brief explanation on your notebook.
empirical clear
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Lesson
In the previous lesson, you were oriented with the basic characteristics of
research. At this time, you also need to know the process of research because
it will help you in properly conducting your own study.
Let me remind you that process refers to a series of steps or actions taken to
achieve a particular end or goal.
What’s In
Can you help the researcher get out of the maze to achieve his goal?
Great! What you have just done can be compared to the process of research.
It takes you to the correct direction to finish your study and achieve your goal
despite the different challenges along the way.
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What’s New
In this lesson, you will be oriented about the research process. It can be
broken down into five phases, making it more manageable and easier to
understand. This module will give you an idea of what is involved at each
phase in order to give you a better overall picture of where you are in your
research, where you will be going, and what to expect at each step.
What is It
Now, here’s the simplified flow of the significant steps you need to take in
conducting a study as presented by Rao (2017):
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1. Define the research problem.
To begin your research, you must look at a significant real-life problem.
Factors like area of interest, availability of fund, socio-economic significance
of the study, and the safety measures to be undertaken should be considered
in finding and defining the research problem.
The researcher identifies English language proficiency as a problem of
aspiring maritime students in qualifying for admission to prestigious maritime
institutions.
2. Review the literature.
Read various publications or surf the internet to become aware of the
previous works already done about the chosen topic. You may utilize different
resources like science books, magazines, journals, newspapers, or even in the
internet.
The researcher reviews previous studies conducted about English
language proficiency and the experienced difficulties of aspiring maritime
students.
3. Formulate hypothesis.
A hypothesis is a theoretical statement in solving a logical relationship
between variables. It should be based on the problem being solved.
The researcher hypothesizes that the implementation of English-Only
Policy (EOP) in the classroom can improve the English language proficiency of
Pre-Baccalaureate Maritime students.
4. Prepare the research design.
Identify what is the best means to collect and analyze data in the study
to clarify and improve the research problem, purpose, and questions.
The researcher uses an experimental design on exploring the experiences
of the students in implementing EOP.
5. Collect data.
Use an appropriate data collection method to elicit the needed
information.
The researcher collects data through interview and focus group
discussion.
6. Analyze data.
Utilize strategies and methods that make sense of the data to answer
the research problem.
The researcher analyzes the data by drawing patterns and themes from
the generated data.
7. Interpret and report the findings.
Put the information in perspective and present the solution to the
proposed problem based on the findings of the investigation.
The researcher interprets and reports the findings based on the collected
and analyzed data to solve the research problem .
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For a clearer understanding of the process, study the following schematic
diagram:
Prepare Interpret
Define the
Review the Formulate the Collect Analyze and report
research
literature hypothesis research data data the
problem
design findings
What’s More
Arrange the following steps to illustrate the research process. Use one to seven
(1-7) to indicate the correct chronological order. Write your answers on your
notebook.
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What I Can Do
Think of a topic that you’d like to research about. Then, compose a short
narrative essay describing the chronological steps you will take in conducting
your study. Be guided with the given rubric below. Write your essay on your
notebook.
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VGE GE SE LE N
CRITERIA
(5) (4) (3) (2) (1)
1. The essay demonstrates an understanding
of the research process.
2. The essay descriptively narrates the
chronological steps in conducting a study
based on the chosen topic.
3. The essay follows the correct format.
4. The essay is written coherently and
cohesively.
5. The word choice is appropriate.
6. The essay is free from grammatical errors.
TOTAL
OVERALL SCORE /30
Legend:
VGE – To a very great extent
GE – To a great extent
SE – To some extent
LE – To a little extent
N – Not at all
2
Assessment
Categorize the following steps in which phase of the research process they
belong to. Use the legend below, and write your answers on your notebook.
A – Conceptual Phase D – Analytic Phase
B – Design and Planning Phase E – Dissemination Phase
C – Empirical Phase
Additional Activities
Which do you think among the five phases of the research process can be
done easily? Choose one from the box and justify your answer in at least five
sentences. Write it on your notebook.
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Lesson
3 Ethics in Research
In the previous lessons, you were oriented with the characteristics of research
and the research process. Aside from them, you also need to know the
importance of ethics because it will guide you in considering the ethical codes
and policies you have to follow in writing and conducting a research.
Let me remind you that ethics is a branch of knowledge that deals with moral
principles on governing a person’s behavior in the conduct of any activity.
What’s In
Search for the terms in the word puzzle below by using the given clues. Write
the ten words you have found on your notebook.
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What’s New
Read and analyze the following article comprehensively. This will serve as an eye-
opener for you to realize the importance of ethics in research.
Thousands of Indians have died in unethical clinical trials over the past decade, even
as a lawsuit to improve regulation of these trials has dragged unresolved through the
Supreme Court for six years.
Between January 2005 and November 2017, 4,967 people died during the course of
drug trials and research, according to government data obtained by a non-profit
called Swasthya Adhikar Manch (SAM). Another 20,000 odd people have suffered
adverse reactions in such trials.
The trials take advantage of loopholes in rules, loose oversight, and India’s large
population of poor people who are often unaware of their rights as trial subjects, Mr.
Nidhi said. “We need a strong regulatory system, and we need action on violators.”
The number of clinical trials in India rose after 2005, when India relaxed its testing
laws. Drug companies began to recruit clinical research outsourcing firms to conduct
trials in India, where costs are drastically lower.
The annual revenue of these outsourcing firms has grown from $485 million in 2010-
11 to over $1 billion today, according to research from Frost & Sullivan, a market
consultancy.
India’s regulators have been unable to keep up with this explosion of testing. For
instance, Mr. Nidhi said, an ethics committee is supposed to oversee every trial. “At
one point, in Chandigarh, there were 257 trials going on, but only one ethics
committee overseeing them,” he said. “How is that even possible?”
Trials take place under the radar as well, Mr. Parikh said, sometimes by simply
paying poor subjects around 500 rupees a day and enlisting them. The details of the
trials and the data harvested remain with the companies. “There’s no way to find this
stuff out.”
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In 2013, following an interim order from the Supreme Court, the government made
it mandatory for companies to seek written informed consent from each subject
before a trial, and for the process of seeking this consent to be recorded on video.
In reality, however, this rarely happens. What is more commonplace, Mr. Nidhi said,
is the kind of experience Pradeep Gehlot had. His story, as narrated to SAM, forms
part of the non-profit’s case in court.
Mr. Gehlot drives an auto rickshaw in the city of Indore, and when his father
Srikrishna, a tailor, fell ill with breathlessness and chest pain, he admitted him to a
government hospital.
In the hospital, Mr. Gehlot was given a sheaf of papers to sign. They were in English,
which he couldn’t read very well, but the doctors told him that his father would be
treated, free of charge, with imported drugs, so Mr. Gehlot went ahead and signed.
“Without his consent, Srikrishna was in a clinical trial for nearly two years,” Mr.
Nidhi said. “His health started deteriorating, and he died in 2012.”
When SAM heard about the case and sent a team to talk to Mr. Gehlot, they
confirmed from the documents that a trial had been conducted.
After Mr. Gehlot complained, the doctor’s medical license was suspended for three
months. SAM uncovered other cases of ethical violations in a different Indore hospital
and filed further complaints.
The state government, after investigating the hospital, found that 81 “serious adverse
events”—including 32 deaths—occurred during clinical trials on more than 3,000
people. These adverse events had not previously been reported to regulators. A third
Indore hospital enlisted 1,833 children and 233 mentally ill individuals in trials
without their consent, the investigators’ report found.
The report also suggested that doctors and clinicians running these trials had
frequently been sent on trips overseas, or had been paid out of process, by
pharmaceutical companies.
Punitive measures are weak, however. After its inquiry, the government imposed fines
of $100 apiece on 12 doctors for not cooperating with its investigations. Two doctors
were barred from conducting further trials for a period of six months.
But Chirag Trivedi, the president of the Indian Society for Clinical Research, a
professional body representing pharmaceutical researchers, argued that the
country’s rules are actually over-stringent, and that they have shrunk the number of
ongoing trials.
One regulation, for example, calls for companies to also pay for management of all
medical problems during trials, which is unfair, he said.
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“There was a cardiovascular drug trial, which is for a heart ailment, where the
company had to pay for tuberculosis treatment for nine months,” Mr. Trivedi said.
“We all know that tuberculosis is caused by bacteria, not by any drug, and not by a
clinical trial for a heart ailment.”
In every case that has warranted compensation, companies have paid out, he said.
Mr. Trivedi admitted that, “as in any industry,” there were companies that indulged
in unethical trials as well. “We cannot condone any irregularities,” he said. “Whatever
protects the rights and safety of individuals, we will support such that. Every life is
precious. We can’t treat Indians as guinea pigs.”
He also pointed out that clinical trials are vital to drug development. “The medicines
that help you and me—they wouldn’t be available without trials.”
The next hearing of SAM’s lawsuit in the Supreme Court has been scheduled for
December 4, but all parties to the suit have been asked to file their suggestions for
an amended law next month, Mr. Nidhi said.
But the regulations before 2005 were both sufficient and comprehensive, Mr. Nidhi
said. “Bring back the law that existed before 2005. That is what we are asking.”
What is It
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3. It ensures that researchers can be held accountable to the public.
Ethical norms guarantee the public that researchers are deemed
responsible for committing any form of research misconduct.
1. Honesty
The researcher should strive to truthfully report data in whatever
form of communication all throughout the study.
2. Objectivity
The researcher should avoid being biased. The study should not be
influenced by his/her personal motives, beliefs and opinions.
3. Integrity
The researcher should establish credibility through the consistency
of his/her thought and action. He/she should act with sincerity especially
on keeping agreements.
4. Care
The researcher should never neglect even the smallest detail of the
study. All information should be critically examined. Records of research
activities should be properly and securely kept.
5. Openness
The researcher should be willing to accept criticisms and new ideas
for the betterment of the study. Research results and findings should be
shared to the public.
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6. Respect for intellectual property
The researcher should not plagiarize. Credit should be given to who
or where it is due. All authors cited and sources used in the study should
be properly acknowledged.
- Plagiarism refers to the act of illegally using another person’s ideas,
works, processes, and results. Thus, it constitutes claiming an
intellectual property as one’s own that can be penalized through
Republic Act 8293 known as the Intellectual Property Code of the
Philippines.
7. Confidentiality
The researcher should take steps to protect all confidential
communications or documents from being discovered by others.
8. Responsible publication
The researcher should ensure that his/her work is clear, honest,
complete, accurate, and balanced, thus avoiding wasteful and duplicate
publication. It should likewise refrain from selective, misleading, or
ambiguous reporting.
9. Responsible mentoring
The researcher should teach responsible conduct of research and
share professional knowledge and skills especially to new or less-
experienced researchers.
12. Non-discrimination
The researcher should not discriminate based on sex, race, ethnicity,
or any factor relating to scientific competence and integrity. Thus,
research should be open to all people or entities who will participate in
research.
13. Competence
The researcher should possess necessary knowledge and skills in
conducting a study. He/she should be equipped with a sense of
professionalism and expertise to ensure competent results.
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14. Legality
The researcher should know and abide by relevant laws, institutional
and government policies concerning the legal conduct of research.
In every aspect of life, rights and responsibilities are inseparably linked to one
another. This means that both the researcher and the participant have
necessary obligations to perform as a prerequisite of their privileges in
conducting research. According to Trochim (2006), Smith (2003) and Polit
(2006), the following are some of the rights of research participants, as cited
by Cristobal & Cristobal (2017):
1. Voluntary participation
The research participants must be given the privilege to exercise their
free will whether to participate or not. They have the right to refuse
involvement in the study. Thus, any person should not be forced to take
part in any research undertaking.
2. Informed consent
The research participants must be provided with sufficient information
about the procedures and risks involved in the research. It serves as an
initial guide on why and how the study will be conducted. Hence, the
researcher must ensure that they fully understood and agreed upon the
study.
3. Risk of harm
The research participants must be protected from any type of harm
whether it may be physical, psychological, social, or economic. The
researcher must avoid, prevent, or minimize threats especially when they
are exposed and engaged in invasive and risky procedures.
4. Confidentiality
The research participants must be assured of their privacy particularly
on personal information. The researcher must secure that all information
disclosed by them will not be used without authorized access.
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5. Anonymity
The research participants must remain anonymous or unidentified
throughout the study even to the researchers themselves. They have the
right to keep their identities secret as they participate especially in case-
sensitive studies.
What’s More
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What I Have Learned
At this point, you already learned a lot about ethics in research. Now, can you
recall the importance of ethical codes and policies?
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What should you consider most among the different ethical codes and policies
when conducting a study? Why do you think so?
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What I Can Do
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Assessment
Identify whether the following actions follow the ethical codes and policies for
research. Write GO if you think it is ethical, and STOP if it is unethical. Write
your answers on your notebook.
Additional Activities
Pick one from the rights of research participants inside the box. Then, explain
how you can personally apply it in conducting your own research in the
future. Express your ideas in at least five sentences. Write your explanation
on your notebook.
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