Research Ethics - For Highway Engineering Unit 5

The research Ethics – Basic
What is ethics in Research ?
• Ethics is a systematic study of value concepts, ‘good’,

‘bad’, ‘right’, ‘wrong’ and the general principles that
justify applying these concepts.
• Ethics is not about etiquette.
• It is important to remember that ethics and law are

not the same.
• Ethics are norms for conduct that distinguish between

acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
The research Ethics - basic
 What is ethics in Research ?
 Ethical norms - ‘body of principles governing right and

wrong’.
 Research Norms - guidelines for
• Conducting research work (data collection, analysis,
interpretation)
• authorship copyright and patenting,
• data sharing,
• confidentiality rules in peer review, etc.
 Why is research ethics important?
1. Promote Aims of research, such as knowledge, truth and

avoidance of error.
 Example – prohibitions against
 Falsification – altering data
 Fabrication – creating data
 Plagiarism – borrowing ideas or words without
appropriate attribution
 Misrepresenting research data
• Anything which is different from this is unethical.

2. promote the values that are essential to

collaborative work, such as trust,
accountability, mutual respect, and fairness.
 Copyright (legal protection of intellectual
property)
 Original works of authorship (books, software)
 particular expression of an idea in the work
3. Ensure that researchers can be held accountable

to the public
4. Help to build public support for research
5. Promote moral and social values (human rights,
animal welfare, health and safety)
The research Ethics – objectives
• To protect human participant.
1
• To ensure that research is conducted in a way

that serve interests of individuals, groups
2 and/or society as a whole.
• To examine specific research activities and projects for

their ethical soundness, looking at issues such as the
management risk, protection of confidentiality and the
3 process of informed consent.
Ethical Codes of Practice
• Many learned bodies have published ethical codes of practice, for
example:
 Medical Research Council
 Economic and Social Research Committee
 Welcome Trust
 The Nuffield Foundation
 British Society of Criminology
 The British Sociological Society
 National research ethics guidelines – Ministry of Science and
Technology, Ethiopia
http://www.primr.org/
Research Ethics –Additional Note
• Example: controls over research involving human
subjects:
 Legal obligations
 Professional code of ethics
 Pre-Clearance from Relevant Regulators

E.g. Typically, University Ethics Committee
 Free and Informed Consent (voluntary

participation)
Ethical Code Development
• Some ethical principles many codes addresses:
• Honesty – in reporting data, results, methods, procedures. No
fabrication, falsify, etc.
• Objectivity – strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data
analysis, etc.
• Integrity – keeping promises and agreements
• Carefulness – avoid carless errors and negligence; critically
examine your work, etc.
• Openness – share data, results, ideas, etc. And, be open to
criticism.
• Respect for intellectual property – honour patents,
copyrights, etc. Do not use unpublished data without
permission. Give credit when credit is due.
Ethical Code Development
• Confidentiality – protect confidential communications
such as paper submitted for publication, etc.
• Legality – know and obey relevant laws; institutional and
government policies
• Animal care – use proper respect and care when animals
are used in research.
• Human study participants’ protection – minimize harms
and risks and maximize benefits; respect human dignity,
privacy; take special precautions with vulnerable, special,
sick populations, minority groups, etc.
Ethical Dilemma
• Ethical dilemma - when an incident arises that causes you to question
how you should react.
• What would you do if faced with a difficult issue in research
integrity? There are no right or wrong answers, but your opinion
will surely help others to make their best choice.
If doing what is right produces something bad, or if doing what is

wrong produces something good, the force of moral obligation may
seem balanced by the reality of the good end.
Anonyms
Example:
A patient who appeared to a doctor is in critical condition but
refuses to take or accept any care or treatment. What shall the
doctor do?
Group Discussion
• Take the following case studies.
• Each group discuss the ethical implications of
the case study
• Articulate your position on the ethical
implications of the case study.
• Come up with suggested measures that has to
be taken by the researcher
• Present the essence of your discussion
Group Discussion
Cases
1. With the aim of teaching the people in town X about
the extent of HIV/AIDS in the town, a doctor planned,
to do a research on
Assessment of HIV/AIDS transmission in town X
It is without their knowledge that he planned to test
bloods of patients who appear to his clinic.
Is this kind of research ethical?
2. Do you think that research on cloning is ethical?
3. Do u think that abortion is ethical?
Question????
• What kind of research in your field seems to you
unethical?
• Give a topic in your field on ethical dilemma.
Thank you

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The research Ethics – Basic

What is ethics in Research ?

• Ethics is a systematic study of value concepts, ‘good’,

• Ethics is not about etiquette.

• It is important to remember that ethics and law are

• Ethics are norms for conduct that distinguish between

 Ethical norms - ‘body of principles governing right and

1. Promote Aims of research, such as knowledge, truth and

• Anything which is different from this is unethical.

2. promote the values that are essential to

3. Ensure that researchers can be held accountable

• To ensure that research is conducted in a way

• To examine specific research activities and projects for

 Professional code of ethics

 Pre-Clearance from Relevant Regulators

 Free and Informed Consent (voluntary

If doing what is right produces something bad, or if doing what is

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