Ethics in Research

Some cases of ethical

dilemmas……
 You conduct a case study on an
organisation that suddenly is in
news for a wrong reason. You are
required to disguise the organisation
in your write-up but when you write
up results of the study, it becomes
impossible to do so. How would you
deal with this?
 You conduct a study of a student
from a below poverty line family.
She tells you that she is depressed
and plans to commit suicide. You
believe she means it. Will you
maintain the confidentiality of this
information as promised?
 You interview college students.
One student tells you that his
roommate spends much time on
the INTERNET looking at sites for
making bombs. Do you tell
someone?
 The respondents you are
studying are mistrustful about
you and do not sign the
permission form. How do you
convince them to participate in
the survey?
 Data recording of any kind is
forbidden within the premises of
the organisation you are
studying. How do you deal with
such a situation?
Some principles…….
 Ethics

Moral principles governing conduct

Judgments of right and wrong
 Dealing with People

It is to be acknowledged that filling up

application form for ethics approval is
more than just bureaucracy.
 The Golden Rule

Treat others as you yourself want to be

treated.
 Honesty

The requirement for proper conduct in the production of

knowledge does not mean that what is published should be
regarded as absolute ‘truth’…..Findings are not self-evident
and it is entirely legitimate to debate the strength of evidence.
 Confidentiality

It is the researcher’s responsibility to

keep the information confidential.
 Do Not Harm

It is best to discontinue the study if the

interests of participants are
compromised even at the cost of
factual results.
 Plagiarism

Plagiarism is considered one of the

worst possible unethical issue in
academia.
 Informed Consent

Potential informants, as far as possible,

be enabled freely to give their informed
consent to participate.
 Permission to publish

Permission must be sought from

organizations before writing case-
studies .
 The Research Report

Maintaining Privacy
Taking Responsibility For Findings
Interviews and Fieldwork

Covert Participation & Observation

 Online Ethics

Email Ethics
Content Usage
Online Communities
 Rapport and Friendship

The difference between the two is

very important for the researcher.
 Intrusiveness

Intruding on time, space and

personal lives of the respondents.
Inappropriate Behaviour

Back off and always remember you

are a researcher.
 Data Interpretation

Fairly represent what you see and

hear.
Data Ownership and Rewards

Sharing these with respondents.

Studying Vulnerable Participants
Low Income Groups
Minors
Women
Persons with limited English or other challenges
 Reflexivity

Interpretation with self-reflection

Alleged Misconduct
in
Research Community
 Examples
Fabrication – creating data that does not exist
Falsification – manipulating data
Guest authors vs ghost authors
Duplicate publication
Tuskegee study
Study by Burt
 Example of Rules set up by Ethics
Committee of University of Sydney
 Recruitment Methodology:
Snowball Recruitment

This form of recruitment is acceptable only if it is in the

passive form. That is participants may be asked to
discuss the research with friends/contacts whom they
think may be interested in volunteering to be
participants. Those new participants should then contact
the research team to volunteer. Active snowballing
when participants volunteer their friends/contacts
directly to the research team is not acceptable.
 Incentives:
Lottery Tickets
Gambling tickets of any description are not allowed as
inducements.

Rewards/Expenses
The Committee accepts that some form of recompense is often
appropriate, but does not approve of lavish (or potentially lavish)
rewards. Therefore lottery tickets or other gambling rewards are
not acceptable. Theatre tickets or small cash gifts are acceptable
but must not be advertised in any “flyers” for the research, except
to say that expenses will be covered (if that is the case).
 Data Collection:
Telephone Interviews

Because telephone interviewing is an intrusive research

tool, the researcher will need to demonstrate to the
Committee’s satisfaction:

(a) Why it is the preferred survey methods and why other

could not obtain the information less intrusive means, e.g.
self-administered questionnaires.

(b) If questions are of a sensitive nature, how it is intended

to minimise the potential for psychological harm and what
referral protocol exists for people who experience
emotional distress resulting from the interview or the
request for an interview.
 Home Interviews or Research

Only rarely will home visits be acceptable. Firstly there

will need to be a well justified reason for the home visit
which is required either by the nature of the research or
by the requirements of the subjects. In most cases where
there are such acceptable reasons the subject should
have a friend present and so should the researcher. This
is to protect both the subject and the researcher from
any charge of impropriety.
 Focus Questions

Where the research protocol uses focus questions to

start off a self-generated response from participants,
the focus questions must be submitted with the
application. Brief superficial focus questions are not
acceptable. The focus questions submitted must enable
the Committee to appreciate the style and type of
inquisition that the subjects/participants will undergo.