Before
Participants should be fully informed about a research project before they assent to taking
part. This principle is usually known as informed consent. There is a clear appreciation that if
people do not understand the nature of the research project, they are not really in a position to
give their fully informed agreement. For individuals lacking capacity, a legal representative
(parent, guardian) may provide consent. However, individual assent is still important. There
is also an ethical dimension to this, in terms of trying to ensure that social research does not
simply accumulate knowledge, but also tries to improve the quality of life for people. If they
are involved from the very beginning, they will be more likely to feel that they are a genuine
part of the research, and that the research is a part of them. There is a clear appreciation that if
people do not understand the nature of the research project, they are not really in a position to
give their fully informed agreement. Among them are children and people whose first
language is different from that of the researcher, participants may be higher in the hierarchical
system than the researcher.
During
The instructions for completing the questionnaire should be clear and unambiguous. There is
often a temptation with questionnaires to reduce the amount of text to be read by respondents,
on the assumption that the effort of reading it might deter them from replying. Anonymity is
another condition that protects individuals who may be mentioned by research respondents. It
would be unfair if individuals unconnected to the original research project are identified
simply because they are included in the discussion by respondents. Research should avoid
causing harm, distress, anxiety, pain or any other negative feeling to participants. Participants
should be fully informed about all relevant aspects of the research, before they agree to take
part. It must also be stressed that the participant may withdraw from the research process at
any time on request. As an additional safeguard, participants could be promised that any data
provided by them will be returned to them on request.
After
As researchers, it is important that we feel confident in assuring our respondents that any data
stored electronic ally are secure, and cannot be accessed by a third party. Data may be
collected for one study, and then combined and reanalyzed for an entirely different piece of
research. It is important to inform the original providers of the data of the uses to which it is
being put. The public are interested in the results of research if they are concerned with their
daily lives. However, they will understandably wish to have the research reported in a manner
which they can understand.
Introduction
Researchers have a significant moral and ethical responsibility toward respondents. Following
established ethical principles to minimize harm, this would risk making our research so bland
that it would not generate any useful data.
Body
Research respondents can feel disturbed when they are selected in circumstances where they
have little choice but to take part in the research. For example, if parents of children in a
school were asked by teachers conducting some research to provide data or to take part in
research interviews, they may feel disposed to agree, even though they would prefer not to be
involved. Although the parents are autonomous adults, their decision-making is not entirely
free. They are constrained by a wish to support their children, and irrespective of their
feelings about participation.
A situation may involve adults who have had relatively little formal academic education and it
may be insufficient to help them understand the research context. It is not always easy to
identify people who are willing to act as participants in a research project, it is necessary to
provide material benefit such as small prizes or payment which reimburses them for either
expense or effort incurred in participating in the research to encourage people to take part.
Therein lies the ethical issue. The inducement or compensation can change the relationship
and perhaps distort the way in which data are provided.
If researchers attempt to infiltrate a research field without informing anyone, they must
address the ethical issues inherent in covert research The researcher tries to merge into the
back ground, recording and noting the changing social events. Related to this approach is that
of participant observation. One of the fundamental problems is that once researchers inform
participants about the research and their role, this has a weakening effect upon the naturalistic
basis of the research. The setting can never be truly natural again. The researcher will never
know whether the participants are acting in such a way as to impress or otherwise affect the
researcher.
Some researches on such complex topics as violence, theft, drug-taking and abuse of various
kinds may involve asking respondents to recall unpleasant events. propose to reduce the risk
of unpleasant psychological consequences by restricting the sample to adults. In this case, the
data may well lose some of its validity.
Ethically, the research should be designed in such a way that each respondent is able fully to
comprehend what is being asked. If there are significant cultural, religious, gender class and
language differences between the researcher and the participants, these may militate against
the researcher making valid interpretations of the data provided by the participants.
Conclusion
A researcher must account for moral responsibility toward respondents by balancing the
validity of data with ethical principles like informed consent, voluntary participation, and
confidentiality.