ETHICS IN RESEARCH

ETHICS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Ethical issues are present in any kind of research. The
research process creates tension between the aims of
research to make generalizations for the good of others, and
he rights of participants to maintain privacy.
ETHICS pertains to doing good and avoiding harm.
Harm can be prevented or reduced through the application
of appropriate ethical principles. Thus, the protection of
human subjects or participants in any research study is
imperative.
Situation:
Violations of human rights in the name of
scientific research have been among the darkest
events in history. From 1932 to 1972, more than
400 African-American people who had syphilis were
deliberately left untreated to study the illness.
Although the Tuskegee syphilis study was
sponsored by the United States Public Health
Service, the disclosure of the 40-year study caused
public outrage (Caplan, 1992).
Situation:
Another example of unethical research is the
experiment conducted between 1950 and 1952,
in which more than 1,000 pregnant women were
given diethylstilbestrol to prevent miscarriages.
These women were subject to a double-blind
study without consent. Only 20 years later,
when the children of these women had high
rates of cancer and other abnormalities, did the
participants learn they were subjects of these
experiments (Capron, 1989).
Questions:
1. Based on the article, how will you define
ethics in research?
2. Are the Tuskegee syphilis and
diethylstilbestrol study on pregnant
women unethical? Why?
3. If you were a part of the research teams
who conducted the research studies,
what will you do to correct the unethical
aspect of the experiments?
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN
RESEARCH
• 1. Ethics promotes the pursuit of knowledge, truth,
and credibility. It also fosters values that are essential
to collaborative work. Research often involves a great
deal of cooperation and coordination among people
in different fields or disciplines. The important values
include trust, accountability, mutual respect, and
fairness.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN
RESEARCH
• 2. Many of the ethical norms ensure that researchers
are held accountable to the public.
• 3. Adherence to ethical principles helps build public
support for research. People are more likely to fund
research studies that promote a variety of important
moral and social values such a social responsibility,
human rights, animal welfare, and health and safety.
 Ethical Codes
and Policies for
Research
• Given the importance of ethics in the conduct of
research, many professional associations,
government agencies, and universities have come up
with the following codes and policies for research:

• 1. HONESTY
This must be maintained in all communications
(e.g., when reporting data, results, and procedures).
Data should never be fabricated, falsified, or
misrepresented.
• 2. OBJECTIVITY
Biases should be avoided in the experimental
design, data analysis, interpretation, expert testimony,
and the other aspects of research.

• 3. INTEGRITY
Consistency of thought and action is the foundation of
the credibility of any research work. Promises and agreements
should be kept and all actions should be made with sincere
purpose.
4. CARE
Careless errors and negligence should be avoided.
Your work and the works of your peers should be
critically examined. Records of research activities should
be kept in good order and condition.

5. OPENNESS
The researcher should be open to criticisms and
new ideas. Research data and results, ideas, and
resources should also be shared with the public.
• 6. RESPECT FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Proper acknowledgement should be given to all
authors cited and sources used in your research. Patents
and copyrights should be recognized. Any unpublished
data, methods, or results should not be used without
permission. Credits should be given to where it is due.

7. CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidential communications or documents should
be protected.
• 8. RESPONSIBLE PUBLICATION
The study should be done with the purpose of advancing
research and scholarship. Wasteful and duplicate publication
should be avoided.

9. RESPONSIBLE MENTORING
The research should seek to educate, mentor, and advise
students.

10. RESPECT FOR COLLEAGUES

All peers should be treated fairly.
• 11. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Social good should be promoted and social harm should be
avoided.

12. NON-DISCRIMINATION
All those eligible to participate in research should be
allowed to do so.

13. COMPETENCE
Professional competence and expertise should be
maintained and improved with research.
• 14. LEGALITY
A researcher should know and obey relevant laws, and
institutional and government policies.

15. HUMAN SUBJECT PROTECTION

Harms and risks to human lives should be minimized.
Human dignity, privacy, and autonomy should be among the
primary consideration of the research.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH
PARTICIPANTS
• The main purpose of a research is to produce results that
would benefit the stakeholders in the study. Likewise, the
participants are crucial elements of the research and they
have the same rights as the research beneficiaries. Some
of the rights of research participants are as follows
(Trochim, 2006; Smit, 2003; Polit, 2006):
1. Voluntary Participation – any person should not be
coerced to participate in any research undertaking
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH
PARTICIPANTS
2. Informed Consent
Prospective research participants must be fully informed
about the procedures and risks involved in the research. Their
consent to participate must be secured.
3. Risk in Harm
Participants should be protected from physical, financial,
or psychological harm. The principle of non-maleficence states
that it is the researcher’s duty to avoid, prevent, or minimize
Harm to the participants of the study.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH
PARTICIPANTS
4. Confidentiality
Participants must be assured that their identity and
other personal information will not be made available to
anyone who is not directly involved in the study.
5. Anonymity
The participants must remain anonymous throughout
the study even to the researches themselves.
ETHICAL STANDARDS IN
RESEARCH WRITING
• It is in general notion that in the written work of any
author, be it in book, magazines, research papers for a
degree program, or even those papers which are
submitted for funding programs, the reader assumes that
the author is the sole originator of the written work, that
any text or ideas borrowed from others are clearly
identified as such by established scholarly conventions,
and that the ideas conveyed therein are accurately
represented to the best of the author’s abilities.
The following reminders must be taken into
consideration for ethical research writing (Logan
University, 2016):
• 1. Findings should be reported with complete honesty.
• 2. Intentional misinterpretation, misinformation, and misleading
claims must be avoided.
• 3. Appropriate credit should be given when using other people’s work.
• 4. Plagiarism should be avoided by fully acknowledging all content
belonging to others.
Plagiarism and Intellectual Property

•Plagiarism
- refers to the act of using another
person’s ideas, words, processes,
and results without giving due
credit.
The following are considered as
acts of plagiarism:
1. Claiming authorship of a work or creation done by another person
2. Copying an entire written work or a portion of it – including words,
sentences, and ideas – without acknowledging the author
3. Failing to put quotation marks to distinguish a quotation taken directly
from a source
4. Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
5. Merely changing the words but retaining the sentence structure so that
the selection or quotes still bears a resemblance to the original source.
6. Using so many words and ideas from the original source that it takes
makes up a large portion of your work, even if you acknowledge the
original author
Plagiarism…
• Plagiarism should not be tolerated as the authorized use
of original ideas and works constitutes a violation of
intellectual property rights.
• The World Intellectual Property Organization has the
following definition of intellectual property:

“Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind:

inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names,
and images used in commerce.” (WIPO, 2004)
• The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines or
R.A. 8293 contains provisions regarding published
works and copyright ownership.

• Some tips to avoid plagiarism are to collect hard

copies of all the relevant references; read all the
references carefully and highlight important areas;
and place sufficient attribution while using the ideas
of others.
• 1. Jaypee, a senior high school student, is planning to conduct his first
research on the misbehavior of fellow students during examinations.
However, he has no idea on the ethical guidelines in conducting such
research.
• 2. Because of non-participation in extra curricular activities, Trey, an
honor student, ranked last in the honor roll. A qualitative research
about Trey is conducted without informing him.
• 3. Gabby, graduating student, claimed the research work of his
classmate. He erased the name of the original researcher and placed
his own.
• 4. A group of senior high school students secretly chose their teacher
as the subject of their research.
• 5. To maximize the participants in her study, Pauline, the class
valedictorian, forced her classmates to join her study.