2.1 Eth.-2.1 Ethics in Research-01
2.1 Eth.-2.1 Ethics in Research-01
2.1 Eth.-2.1 Ethics in Research-01
Lesson 2.1
Ethics in Research
Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Objectives 2
Warm Up 2
Key Points 14
Challenge Yourself 17
Mini Task 18
Bibliography 20
Unit 2: Research Ethics and Safety
Lesson 2.1
Ethics in Research
Introduction
Ethics is defined as a set of moral principles that informs a person’s actions or behavior.
Similarly, in research, researchers have to follow a strict ethical standard so that the study
will be conducted responsibly and righteously. Not following these standards can create
confusion and misinformation to readers of research, and it can also infringe on the rights
of people. One example is a research produced in the early 1990s where the
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was linked with the increased risk of autism. This
research is questionable due to many factors, and one of them is the non-compliance to
research ethics. Another is a research conducted by Walter Reed (1900) to determine the
cause of yellow fever. In his study, participants were exposed to mosquitoes that are known
to transmit yellow fever or by injecting the blood of people known to have the disease.
Several people died in this study including some research volunteers.
Ethics in research should also be observed between researchers in the aspect of proper
acknowledgment of other people’s work. These considerations are crucial in the active
decision-making of researchers to create a safe space in the pursuit of knowledge. In this
lesson, learners are expected to be familiar with ethical standards in research, how it can
benefit their own work and its effect on the academic community.
Warm Up
Materials
● marker
● manila paper
Procedure
1. Form groups with three members each.
2. Discuss whether the different situations outlined in Table 2.1.1 are ethical or not.
3. For each situation, you must also explain your answers and write them down to
complete Table 2.1.1. on a sheet of manila paper.
4. Post your manila papers on the board. Volunteer to share three of your answers to
the class.
5. Answer the guide questions below.
Ethical or Not
Situation Explanation
Ethical?
Guide Questions
1. How would an action be considered ethical?
2. How do you feel after answering the activity? Why do you think so?
3. Does the class have similar answers in all example situations? Why do you think that
is the case?
4. Do you think ethics plays an important role in our lives? Why?
Ethics in Research
The importance of ethics was already discussed in Unit 1. In the warm-up, we have
established how it is embedded in our daily lives and how much thought we put into
consideration with ethics. We will further and deepen our understanding of research ethics
in this section as we discuss some historical background and ethical principles that
researchers use today.
For a positivist, if one can not do any of those things, it is not real or
it does not exist.
In the early years of the scientific revolution, the pursuit of knowledge was limited to small
groups of academics which were confined in the walls of universities. These groups of
people often shared their findings, discussed them in informal meetings, and probably did
some collaborations. From these conversations, norms were established on how
research should be conducted—the “right way”. Because these groups were small and
the pool of knowledge was relatively shallow, it was easy for academics to check and raise
issues of inconsistencies with each other.
Present Time
In modern times where the exchange of information is faster and more voluminous than
ever — research, experimentation, observations, and ideas are constantly shared around
the world. Ethical considerations are becoming more important as a result. That is the
reason why academic institutions are encouraged to create their own ethics
committees to review all research that will be conducted within their jurisdiction.
Research that contains any procedures that are mentioned above should get authorization
from the IACUC before proceeding with the study.
Although agreements and committees that have been established for the sake of research
ethics are specifically focused on the rights of human subjects, it should not only be limited
to this. Instead, research ethics should also encompass the entire research process and
all participants of a research study. In this subsection, we are going to discuss the
different principles that have been agreed upon by researchers. These principles are
enumerated and described in Table 2.1.3 published in the paper of Žukauskas, Pranas,
Jolita Vveinhardt, and Regina Andriukaitienė (2018), entitled “Research Ethics.”
Respect for other Researchers should respect and interact with each other
politely and honestly. Regardless if researchers are within a
researchers
group or interacting with other groups.
Falsification, on the other hand, are observations and data collected from a
legitimate source but are used in a manner not intended to it. It can also be the
modification of data sets to agree with the research hypothesis. Misrepresentation in any
part of the research can fall under falsification as well. An example of this is when a
necessary procedure is declared in the research’s methodology but the researchers did not
actually do the procedure. Another example is when the researchers used a data set from
the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) about the flooding levels of coastal cities between
2009-2014, but the researchers declared it to be between 2014-2019 to satisfy the teacher’s
requirement for current data sets.
Remember
Fabrication is the manufacturing or making up of data or
observations, while falsification is the presentation of information
in any part of the research but was not actually performed or used.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of copying or using works from another person and presenting it as
your own. It is basically stealing other people’s work. The Intellectual Property Code of the
Philippines or Republic Act 8293, is a law enacted on January 1, 1998, protects the
intellectual works of people such as books, inventions, designs, trade secrets, and other
works registered as copyright. Any offenders of this law may suffer a penalty of Php 500 000
- Php 1 500 000 or imprisonment of up to 9 years for third and subsequent acts. Although
not all acts of plagiarism is a criminal offense under RA 8293, it is extremely discouraged in
the academic community. Sometimes, it may affect a professional’s career or in cases with
students’ involvement, expulsion. Examples of plagiarism include: copying an entire text
from another researcher without proper citation, paraphrasing ideas from another source
without proper citation, or using a procedure developed by another researcher without
acknowledging them in your paper.
● studies on diseases,
● surveys, and others.
In these cases, the researchers take extra precautions in ensuring that no physical,
mental, or emotional harm befalls the subject of the research. In addition to this are several
other guidelines that must be followed, including the following:
● the subject must be a willing participant;
● the subject must be made aware of all risks;
● the privacy of the subject must be protected;
● the subject has the right to withdraw from the study at any point;
● information must be disclosed to the subject.
Similar to the procedures for other studies, any research involving human subjects is usually
subjected to a review by an ethical board beforehand. Take note that even surveys should
be reviewed before they are administered.
Key Points
___________________________________________________________________________________________
● Ethics is a branch of philosophy that asks questions about the right and wrong
ways of human behavior.
● Ethics in research have developed through time by different advancements in
technology, beliefs, and thought.
● Ethics committees are set in place at the national and local levels to protect all
research participants (human subjects, animal subjects, and researchers) in any
scientific or medical research studies.
● Research ethics is not just confined to the protection of human subjects, it also
protects the welfare of animals in scientific research.
● There are twelve ethical principles that a researcher must be familiar with. These
are honesty, objectivity, morality, prudence, openness, responsible publication,
confidentiality, respect for intellectual property, respect for other researchers, social
responsibility, anti-discrimination, and security of people involved in scientific
research.
● Common issues in research ethics that should be avoided by researchers are lost in
practice (negligence), fabrication and falsification, and plagiarism.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________ 1. The researchers discuss and share their research project while it is
still ongoing.
_______________ 2. One of the procedures that were expected to be accomplished was
not finished, instead of lying about it on their report, the
researchers narrated this in their scope and limitations.
_______________ 3. Personal records of participants were kept in a space location
where only the researchers have access to them.
_______________ 4. The research group was able to finish their research on time due to
proper organization and systematic accomplishments of each step.
_______________ 5. Upholding a promise for a group of participants.
_______________ 6. All members of the group kept their opinions for themselves so
that it will not affect the answers to the research subjects.
_______________ 7. For people who are differently-abled, the researchers collected
data in their houses instead of inviting them to their school.
_______________ 8. One of the group members convinced everyone to keep their head
leveled even if several unfortunate events have happened during
your field data gathering that was caused by another group.
_______________ 9. At the end of your research, teachers from a rural village will be
able to benefit from your study.
_______________ 10. Judgment was not passed for participants from an indigenous
group who have different beliefs and customs as you.
Common Issues
Examples
in Research Ethics
Fabrication
Falsification
Plagiarism
Challenge Yourself
Mini Task
Materials
● marker
● manila paper
Procedure
1. Create different strategies or ways in each stage of research on how to constantly
follow the principles in research ethics or to prevent the occurrence of issues. Write
down your answers in the table provided on the worksheet.
2. Perform the task by completing Worksheet 2.1.. You can print the worksheet or edit
the template by clicking the link below.
a. Take note that you need to log in to your Gmail account after you click the
link. Then, select “Make a copy”.
b. Rename the file as specified by your teacher. You can move the file to your
desired location in your Google Drive.
Worksheet 2.1. Strategies on How to Constantly Follow the Principles in Research Ethics
Identification of the
Research Problem
Review of Related
Literature
Methodology
Data Collection
Data Presentation
Bibliography
“Do Vaccines Cause Autism?” History of Vaccines. Accessed January 7, 2020.
https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/do-vaccines-cause-autism.
Fraenkel, Jack R., and Norman E. Wallen. How to Design and Evaluate Research in
Education. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2009.
Ruyter, Knut W. “The History of Research Ethics.” Etikkom. Accessed January 7, 2020.
https://www.etikkom.no/en/library/introduction/systhematic-and-historical-perspectiv
es/the-history-of-research-ethics/.
“The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Their Additional Protocols.” ICRC, October 29,
2010.
https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions
/overview-geneva-conventions.htm.
“UN, United Nations, UN Treaties, Treaties.” United Nations. United Nations. Accessed
January 9, 2020.
https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsV.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XI-B-1&chapt
er=11&Temp=mtdsg5&clang=_en.