DIPLOMA IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Unit: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Chemeltor pkemei abel

DES/255J/2021

Question 1 : Ethical issues related to research

1. Study design and ethics approval

According to COPE, “good research should be well adjusted, well-planned, appropriately designed, and
ethically approved. To conduct research to a lower standard may constitute misconduct. This may
appear to be a stringent criterion, but it highlights the basic requirement of a researcher is to conduct a
research responsibly. To achieve this, a research protocol should be developed and adhered to. It must
be carefully agreed to by all contributors and collaborators, and the precise roles of each team member
should be spelled out early, including matters of authorship and publications. Research should seek to
answer specific questions, rather than just collect data.

2. Data analysis

It is the responsibility of the researcher to analyse the data appropriately. Although inappropriate
analysis does not necessarily amount to misconduct, intentional omission of result may cause
misinterpretation and mislead the readers. Fabrication and falsification of data do constitute
misconduct. For example, in a clinical trial, if a drug is found to be ineffective, this study should be
reported. There is a tendency for the researchers to under-report negative research findings,5 and this is
partly contributed by pressure from the pharmaceutical industry which funds the clinical trial.

3. Authorship

There is no universally agreed definition of authorship.6 It is generally agreed that an author should
have made substantial contribution to the intellectual content, including conceptualising and designing
the study; acquiring, analysing and interpreting the data. The author should also take responsibility to
certify that the manuscript represents valid work and take public responsibility for the work. Finally, an
author is usually involved in drafting or revising the manuscript, as well as approving the submitted
manuscript. Data collection, editing of grammar and language, and other routine works by itself, do not
deserve an authorship.

4. Conflicts of interest

This happens when researchers have interests that are not fully apparent and that may influence their
judgments on what is published. These conflicts include personal, commercial, political, academic or
financial interest. Financial interests may include employment, research funding, stock or share
ownership, payment for lecture or travel, consultancies and company support for staff. This issue is
especially pertinent in biomedical research where a substantial number of clinical trials are funded by
pharmaceutical company.

5. Redundant publication and plagiarism

Redundant publication occurs when two or more papers, without full cross reference, share the same
hypothesis, data, discussion points, or conclusions. However, previous publication of an abstract during
the proceedings of meetings does not preclude subsequent submission for publication, but full
disclosure should be made at the time of submission. This is also known as self-plagiarism. In the
increasing competitive environment where appointments, promotions and grant applications are
strongly influenced by publication record, researchers are under intense pressure to publish, and a
growing minority is seeking to bump up their CV through dishonest means.

On the other hand, plagiarism ranges from unreferenced use of others’ published and unpublished
ideas, including research grant applications to submission under “new” authorship of a complete paper,
sometimes in different language.

Question 2 : Ethical issues concerning research subjects e.g Anonymity

Research misconduct

Research misconduct means making up or falsifying data, manipulating data analyses, or

Research misconduct is a serious ethical issue because it can undermine scientific integrity and
institutional credibility. It leads to a waste of funding and resources that could have been used for
alternative research.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism means submitting others’ works as your own. Although it can be unintentional, copying
someone else’s work without proper credit amounts to stealing. It’s an ethical problem in research
communication because you may benefit by harming other researchers

Results communication

The way you communicate your research results can sometimes involve ethical issues. Good science
communication is honest, reliable, and credible. It’s best to make your results as transparent as
possible.Take steps to actively avoid plagiarism and research misconduct wherever possible.

Potential for harm

Psychological harm: Sensitive questions or tasks may trigger negative emotions such as shame or
anxiety.

Social harm: Participation can involve social risks, public embarrassment, or stigma.

Physical harm: Pain or injury can result from the study procedures.

Legal harm: Reporting sensitive data could lead to legal risks or a breach of privacy.

It’s best to consider every possible source of harm in your study as well as concrete ways to mitigate
them. Involve your supervisor to discuss steps for harm reduction.Make sure to disclose all possible risks
of harm to participants before the study to get informed consent. If there is a risk of harm, prepare to
provide participants with resources or counseling or medical services if needed.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality means that you know who the participants are, but you remove all identifying
information from your report.

All participants have a right to privacy, so you should protect their personal data for as long as you store
or use it. Even when you can’t collect data anonymously, you should secure confidentiality whenever
you can.

Voluntary participation

Voluntary participation means that all research subjects are free to choose to participate without any
pressure or coercion.

All participants are able to withdraw from, or leave, the study at any point without feeling an obligation
to continue. Your participants don’t need to provide a reason for leaving the study.It’s important to
make it clear to participants that there are no negative consequences or repercussions to their refusal to
participate. After all, they’re taking the time to help you in the research process, so you should respect
their decisions without trying to change their minds.

Informed consent

Informed consent refers to a situation in which all potential participants receive and understand all the
information they need to decide whether they want to participate. This includes information about the
study’s benefits, risks, funding, and institutional approval.

Anonymity

Anonymity means that you don’t know who the participants are and you can’t link any individual
participant to their data.
You can only guarantee anonymity by not collecting any personally identifying information—for
example, names, phone numbers, email addresses, IP addresses, physical characteristics, photos, and
videos.In many cases, it may be impossible to truly anonymize data collection. For example, data
collected in person or by phone cannot be considered fully anonymous because some personal
identifiers (demographic information or phone numbers) are impossible to hide.You’ll also need to
collect some identifying information if you give your participants the option to withdraw their data at a
later stage.

Data pseudonymization is an alternative method where you replace identifying information about
participants with pseudonymous, or fake, identifiers. The data can still be linked to participants but it’s
harder to do so because you separate personal information from the study data.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality means that you know who the participants are, but you remove all identifying
information from your report.

All participants have a right to privacy, so you should protect their personal data for as long as you store
or use it. Even when you can’t collect data anonymously, you should secure confidentiality whenever
you can.