Africa Nazarene University

Department: Counselling Psychology

Unit: Research Methods

Unit Code: RME308

Learning Activities

a) Read chapter 6 pg 178 -195 Saunders available at student portal and summarize
ethical issues in research (2pg)

Saunders et al. (2007) define research ethics as the appropriateness of your behaviour in relation
to the rights of those who become the subject of your work, or are affected by it. They identify
ethical issues that arise at different stages of research.

During the formulation and clarification of the research topic, researchers must consider the
sponsor’s right to useful research and the participant’s right to quality research. During research
design and access, participants and gatekeepers have the right to be fully informed and to
privacy. During data collection, ethical concerns include informed consent, the right to withdraw,
confidentiality, anonymity, and researcher safety. During data processing and storage,
participants have rights regarding the processing and storing of their personal data. During
analysis and reporting, researchers must protect confidentiality and anonymity while ensuring
quality research.

Certain general ethical issues arise throughout the research process. These relate to privacy of
possible and actual participants; voluntary nature of participation and the right to withdraw from
the process; consent of participants; confidentiality/anonymity of participants; and behaviour and
objectivity of the researcher, among others.

Ethical Issues During Research Design and Access

In this stage, various ethical issues should be addressed. According to the reading, when seeking
access, researchers should not pressure individuals into participating. Participation must be
voluntary, and refusals should be respected. Researchers should also avoid intruding upon
privacy or creating discomfort. Personal information obtained must be maintained confidential.

Another critical issue mentioned at this stage is informed consent. Participants should receive
sufficient information about the purpose and nature of the research; who is conducting and
sponsoring the study; what participation involves; amount of time required; potential risks and
benefits; their right to refuse participation or withdraw; assurances regarding confidentiality and
anonymity; and how the data will be used and reported.

Deception in research is another issue at this stage. Researchers sometimes conceal the true
purpose of a study to obtain more valid data. However, deception raises serious ethical concerns
because it undermines informed consent and honesty in the researcher-participant relationship.
Where covert observation is used, researchers should carefully consider whether the benefits
justify the risks.

Confidentiality and anonymity are also principles of ethical research. Researchers have a
responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of information provided by participants and to
protect their anonymity by storing data securely and anonymizing identifying information.

Ethical Issues During Data Collection

Different methods of data collection present different ethical challenges. Interviews and
observations may be particularly intrusive because they allow researchers to probe deeply into
participants’ experiences and feelings. Survey research generally presents fewer ethical concerns
because structured questions limit the extent of personal disclosure. Nevertheless, issues of
privacy, deception, openness, confidentiality, and objectivity still apply.

Another important factor is researcher safety. Saunders et al. (2007) note that ethical
considerations also extend to their own safety. Researchers should avoid situations that place
them at risk, especially when collecting primary data alone. Appropriate precautions include
informing others about meetings, keeping records of appointments, arranging check-in
procedures, and meeting participants in public places whenever possible.

The reading also emphasizes that data protection is important. Researchers must comply with
legal requirements governing the collection, processing, storage, and movement of personal data.
Data protection laws are designed to safeguard individuals’ privacy and prevent misuse of
personal information.

b) Read the lecture notes and make a summary of core issues in ethics (1pg)
Ethics is the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct. It is the code of moral
principles that set standards as to what is good or bad, right or wrong. Ethics are norms or
standards of behavior that guide moral choice about our behavior and relationships with others.
Ethics in research ensures that the rights of all parties, namely clients, respondents, and
researchers, are not violated. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or
suffers adverse consequences from research activities.

A major ethical issue is the ethical treatment of participants/respondents. Research must be

designed so that a participant does not suffer physical harm, discomfort, pain, embarrassment, or
loss of privacy. Researchers should explain the study benefits, explain participants’ rights and
protections, and obtain informed consent. Participants should be informed about the purpose and
benefit of the research and assured that their rights and well-being will be adequately protected.

Informed consent is concerned with fully disclosing the procedures of the proposed survey or
other research design before requesting permission to proceed with the study. Once the research
is completed, subjects who were deceived should be debriefed. Debriefing explains the truth to
participants, describes the major goals of the study, and explains the reason for using deception.

Another important ethical issue is the right to privacy. All individuals have a right to privacy,
and researchers must respect that right. Privacy guarantees are important not only to retain
validity in the research but also to protect respondents. The confidentiality of survey answers is
an important aspect of the respondent’s right to privacy. Researchers should restrict access to
information that reveals names, telephone numbers, addresses, or other identifying features.
Participants also have a right to refuse to answer any question and to engage in private behavior
in private places without fear of observation.

Researchers also have ethical responsibilities toward clients and sponsors. Clients have the right
to confidentiality and quality research. Researchers should safeguard the identity of clients and
protect information regarding the purpose or details of a study. Quality research involves
providing the client with the type of study needed to solve managerial problems, ensuring that
the project design is suitable, guiding the client on proper data analysis techniques and
interpretations, and reporting findings in ways that minimize false conclusions.

Importantly, researchers have ethical responsibilities toward research assistants and team
members. Researchers must protect the safety of interviewers, surveyors, experimenters, and
observers. They should require ethical compliance from team members, ensure that data are
collected accurately and without bias, and protect the confidentiality of client information and
anonymity of respondents. Ethical behavior by all members of the research team is essential for
maintaining the integrity and credibility of the research process.

c) Watch this video and highlight ethical research guidelines

Ethics may differ between institutions or countries but there are core principles that every
research must adhere to:

1. Respect for persons – This principle entails ensuring participants are treated fairly and
respectfully. This means informed consent about the nature of research and potential
risks. It also entails upholding right to withdraw at any point, especially vulnerable
persons such as children. Another dimension is protecting the confidentiality of
participant information.
2. Beneficence – maximize the benefits of the research, e.g. advancing knowledge, while
minimizing potential harm to participants, e.g., physical harm, such as injury,
psychological harm such as stress, social harm e.g., stigmatization, or economic harm,
e.g., loss of income
3. Objectivity – Minimize potential bias as much as possible. It means reducing subjectivity
but increasing objectivity. Researchers should ensure participant selection or sampling
strategy is aligned with research aims not biased to meet
4. Integrity – This means producing honest work. Researchers should conduct their work
honestly and transparently, report findings accurately, and disclose conflict of interest. It
also involves respect for intellectual property rights, not using unpublished data without
explicit permission from owner, and adding citations to your work using tools such as
Mendeley.

Assessment

a) Describe ethical issues affecting researcher in twenty first century and how to mitigate against
such.

Ethical issues have evolved in the twenty-first century driven by rapid advances in technology,
globalization, and digital communication, creating new ethical challenges for researchers.
Researchers must therefore adopt appropriate measures to ensure ethical conduct throughout the
research process (Saunders et al., 2019). The issues are as follows:

1. Plagiarism and Intellectual Property Violations

Plagiarism occurs when researchers present another person's ideas, words, or work as their own
without proper acknowledgment. The ease of accessing information through the internet has
increased the risk of plagiarism and copyright infringement. Plagiarism undermines academic
integrity and reduces the credibility of research findings (Cooper & Schindler, 2014).

Mitigation strategies for this issue include properly citing all sources using accepted referencing
styles, use of plagiarism detection software before submitting research reports, promoting
academic honesty and integrity among researchers and students, and seeking permission when
using copyrighted materials (Cooper & Schindler, 2014).
2. Data Privacy and Confidentiality

Modern research often involves collecting and storing large amounts of personal information
electronically. Unauthorized access, data breaches, and misuse of personal information can
violate participants' privacy rights. Researchers have a responsibility to maintain confidentiality
and protect the anonymity of participants (Saunders et al., 2019).

To mitigate against the issue of violations of privacy and confidentiality, researchers should
obtain informed consent before collecting personal data, store data securely using passwords and
encryption, remove identifying information where possible, and comply with data protection
regulations and institutional policies (Saunders et al., 2019).

3. Falsification of Data

Falsification involves manipulating research procedures or results to support a desired outcome.

Such practices compromise the integrity and reliability of research and are considered serious
forms of scientific misconduct (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). This issue can be mitigated by
maintaining accurate records of research activities, encouraging transparency and peer review,
and conduct regular audits of research data (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

4. Ethical Challenges of AI

The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and automated research tools
raises concerns about bias, transparency, accountability, and misuse of information. AI-generated
content may also increase the risk of inaccurate or misleading research outputs (European
Commission, 2021). This can be mitigated by ensuring transparency when using AI tools and
verifying AI-generated information (European Commission, 2021).

5. Informed Consent in Online Research

Online surveys, virtual interviews, and social media research have created challenges in
obtaining genuine informed consent. Participants may not fully understand how their data will be
collected, stored, or used (Saunders et al., 2019). This issue can be addressed by providing clear
and detailed information about the study and using digital consent forms.

6. Cybersecurity attacks

The increasing use of digital platforms for storing research data exposes researchers to cyber
threats such as hacking, data theft, and unauthorized access. These risks can lead to breaches of
confidentiality and loss of valuable information (Saunders et al., 2019). Researchers can avoid
this risk by securing databases and regularly updating security software, among other measures.
b) As a researcher show how would avoid violating rights of various participants in research

As a researcher, I would ensure that participant rights are respected by adhering to established
ethical principles and research guidelines.

First, I will uphold the right to informed consent by giving participants with adequate
information about the purpose of the study, the procedures involved, the expected duration,
potential risks and benefits, and how the findings will be used. Participation would only begin
after participants voluntarily agree to take part. According to Saunders et al. (2019), informed
consent involves ensuring that participants understand the nature of the research before agreeing
to participate.

Second, I will adhere to the right to voluntary participation. I will ensure that participation is
completely voluntary and free from coercion, intimidation, or undue influence. Participants
would be informed that they are free to decline participation without any penalty or loss of
benefits (Saunders et al., 2019).

Third, I will respect the right to withdraw from the research. I will inform participants that they
may withdraw from the study at any stage without providing reasons. Any data collected from
participants who withdraw would be removed if they request it. This protects individual
autonomy and freedom of choice (Kothari, 2004).

Protecting participant privacy is another way I would use to protect their rights. I will only
collect information that is relevant to the study and avoid intrusive questions unless absolutely
necessary. Interviews and observations would be conducted only with permission, and
participants would have the right to refuse answering questions they consider private.

Also, I will aim to maintain participant confidentiality by protecting all information provided by
participants by restricting access to research data. Names, telephone numbers, addresses, and
other identifying information will not be disclosed to unauthorized persons. Data will be stored
securely and used only for research purposes (Saunders et al., 2019). In addition, where possible,
I will use codes rather than names and remove identifying details from reports and publications.
This would prevent participants from being identified directly or indirectly and reduce the risk of
social, professional, or personal harm (Cooper & Schindler, 2014).