Research Ethics & Research Design Quantitative Research Designs
Research Ethics are the principles and 1. True Experiment – Random
standards that guide how research should be assignment, control & experimental
conducted to ensure honesty, integrity, and groups, manipulation of variables.
protection of participants. Ex: Testing effectiveness of a new
therapy by assigning patients
randomly to therapy vs. no therapy
Core Ethical Principles (Belmont Report)
group.
1. Respect for Persons – Obtain 2. Quasi-Experiment – Similar but
informed consent and respect lacks random assignment.
participants’ autonomy. Ex: Comparing two existing
2. Beneficence – Do good, maximize classrooms where one uses a new
benefits, and minimize risks. teaching method and the other does
3. Justice – Fair distribution of research not.
benefits and burdens. 3. Single-Subject Design – Focus on
one individual or small group over
time.
Ethical Guidelines
Ex: Monitoring behavior changes of
one child after applying a
● Informed Consent – participants
reinforcement technique.
must agree freely.
4. Correlational Design – Examines
● Confidentiality – protect privacy of
relationship between variables.
participants.
Ex: Studying the relationship between
● Right to Withdraw – participants
stress levels and academic
may leave anytime.
performance.
● Avoid Misconduct – no plagiarism,
5. Causal-Comparative (Ex Post
fabrication, or falsification.
Facto) – Looks for causes after the
● Ethics Review Board Approval –
fact.
ensures study is safe and valid.
Ex: Comparing self-esteem of
children from single-parent vs.
Examples of Ethical Violations two-parent households.
6. Survey Designs – Uses
● Collecting data without consent. questionnaires/interviews for data.
● Using deception without debriefing. Ex: Conducting a survey on college
● Not protecting participant identities. students’ study habits.
● Manipulating or faking results. 7. Longitudinal Survey Design –
Repeated surveys over time.
The Research Process Ex: Tracking mental health of a group
of teenagers from high school through
1. Identify the problem or research college.
question
2. Review related literature
3. Formulate hypotheses/research Qualitative Research Designs
objectives
4. Choose research design and 1. Phenomenology – Explores lived
methodology experiences.
5. Collect data Ex: Interviewing patients about their
6. Analyze data lived experiences of chronic pain.
7. Interpret results 2. Narrative Research – Focus on
8. Draw conclusions and report findings personal stories.
Ex: Collecting life stories of war
survivors to understand resilience.
3. Case Study – In-depth study of one
case.
Ex: Analyzing one school’s
successful anti-bullying program.
4. Ethnography – Study of culture in
natural setting.
Ex: Observing classroom interactions
to understand student culture.
5. Grounded Theory – Builds theory
from data.
Ex: Interviewing employees to
develop a theory about workplace
motivation.
Mixed Methods Designs
1. Convergent Parallel – Collects qual
+ quant data at same time.
Ex: Surveying students about stress
(quant) and conducting focus groups
(qual) to compare results.
2. Sequential Explanatory – Quant
first, then qual to explain.
Ex: Measuring exam scores (quant),
then interviewing low scorers to
explore difficulties (qual).
3. Embedded Experiment – One
method supports the other.
Ex: Running an experiment on
teaching methods (quant) while also
interviewing teachers (qual) for deeper
insight.
Key Considerations in Choosing a Design
● Type of research problem.
● Nature of data needed (numeric or
descriptive).
● Time, resources, and ethical concerns.