Research Ethics

1
Research Ethics

• JN602
• Week 05
• Chapter 3, pp. 65-71

2
Group Research Proposals

• Change in submission and presentation date
• Proposals now due FRIDAY 27th APRIL at 9.30 am
• Presentations will now occur in Week 7
• i.e. AFTER THE EASTER BREAK

3
What are research ethics?

• Ethics and ethical principles extend to all
  spheres of human activity. They apply to our
  dealings with each other, with animals and the
  environment. They should govern our interactions
  not only in conducting research but also in
  commerce, employment and politics. Ethics serve
  to identify good, desirable or acceptable conduct
  and provide reasons for those conclusions.
  (NHMRC, 1999, p.13)

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Principles of research ethics

• National Health and Medical Research Council
  (1999)
• Integrity
• Respect for persons individuals should be
  treated as autonomous agents and that persons
  with diminished autonomy are entitled to
  protection (p.16)
• Beneficience maximise possible benefits,
  minimise possible harm
• Justice who ought to receive the benefits of
  research and bear its burdens (p.16)

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Ethical principles (Veal, 2005)

• No harm should befall research subjects
• Subjects should take part freely
• Participation should be based on informed consent

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Expression of ethical principles (NHMRC, 1999,
p.23)

• Integrity commitment to the search for
  knowledge, to recognised principles of research
  conduct and in the honest and ethical conduct of
  research and dissemination and communication of
  results
• Respect for persons regard for the welfare,
  rights, beliefs, perceptions, customs and
  cultural heritage, both individual and
  collective, of persons involved in research

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Expression of ethical principles (cont.)

• Beneficence researchers responsibility to
  minimise risks of harm or discomfort to
  participants in research projects. Each research
  protocol must be designed to ensure that respect
  for the dignity and well being of the
  participants takes precedence over the expected
  benefits to knowledge.
• Justice within a population, there is a fair
  distribution of the benefits and burdens of
  participation in research and, for any research
  participant, a balance of burdens and benefits.

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The Research Process and Ethics
0
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Enforcement of research ethics

• Universities, hospitals, professional bodies and
  government departments have codes of ethics
• Ethics Committees (also known as Institutional
  Review Boards in the U.S.A.) must approve all
  research with humans and with animals
• E.g. UB Human Research Ethics Committee
• http//www.ballarat.edu.au/ard/ubresearch/hdrs/eth
  ics/humanethics/hrec.shtml
• Potential loss of professional indemnity if code
  not followed

10
Minimising Harm

• Ensure privacy/confidentiality/anonymity/
  security of information received.
• Use fictitious names when reporting results.
• Seek permission to quote when identification
  unavoidable (eg, Mayor, Managing Director).

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Free choice (Veal, 2005)

• Also known as voluntary consent
• Subjects must not be coerced into participating
• even in captive group situations
• Free choice not possible in
• Some observational research
• Some type of participant observation

12
Informed consent

• Participants should be fully informed about the
  nature and purpose of the research
• Some grey areas when full information might
  bias results

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The importance of informed consent

• The Milgram Obedience experiments
• Re-creation http//www.wernersplace.com/obedience
  2.htm
• Original videotape http//video.google.com.au/vid
  eoplay?docid-1606897927982220440
• The Tea Room Trade
• http//www.research.uwaterloo.ca/ethics/human/reso
  urces/index.htm

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Obtaining consent(NHMRC, 1999)

• (a) provision to participants, at their level of
  comprehension, of information about the purpose,
  methods, demands, risks, inconveniences,
  discomforts, and possible outcomes of the
  research (including the likelihood and form of
  publication of research results) and
• (b) the exercise of a voluntary choice to
  participate.

15
Unequal or dependent relationships(NHMRC, 1999,
p.42)

• Situations where unequal power relationships
  exist between participants and researchers or
  where participants occupy junior or subordinate
  positions in hierarchically structured groups.
• Examples include
• persons with chronic conditions or disabilities
  and their carers
• patients and health care professionals
• students and teachers
• prisoners and prison authorities and
• employees and their employers or supervisors.

16
General research ethics(Veal, 2005)

• Researchers should be competent
• Research should be informed by a literature
  review
• Plagiarism is unethical
• All contributors should be acknowledged
• Falsification of results is unethical

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Example Ethics in survey research

• Interviewee issues
• Interviewer issues
• Sampling
• Politics

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Interviewee issues

• Privacy
• Anonymity
• Time
• Comprehension
• Knowledge of subject matter

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Interviewer Issues

• Interviewers background
• Interviewer integrity ethics
• Interviewer knowledge and preparation
• Bias occurs when the interviewers opinion
  influences the answer

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Sampling

• Who should you ask in order to get useful
  information?
• Depends on the research question
• You want your sample to be representative of the
  group you are interested in
• Probability sampling
• Non-probability sampling

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Politics(SLT, 2003)

• Researcher What if the test results are
  favourable?
• Product Manager Why, well launch the product
  nationally, of course
• R And if the results are unfavourable?
• PM They wont be. Im sure of that.
• R But just suppose they are.
• PM I dont think we should throw out a good
  product just because of one little market test.
• R Then why test?
• PM Listen, this is a major product introduction.
  Its got to have some research behind it.

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Differences between interviewer-assisted and
self-completion surveys

• Interview
• Open
• Confronting
• Clarification
• Assistance
• Slower
• Accuracy affected by
• Interviewer bias
• Social acceptability

• Self-completion
• Private
• Confidential
• Needs accurate qus
• No assistance
• Faster for respondent
• Accuracy affected by
• Misunderstanding
• Length of questionnaire

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Ethics - summary

• The rights of respondents are always the most
  important.
• Respondents cooperation in research is entirely
  voluntary at all stages.
• Respondents should not be subject to negative
  effects from taking part in a survey.
• The respondents anonymity must be strictly
  protected.