Ethical norms are very important in research. Researchers must adhere to promote objectives of the study, prevention of error, and providing true and reliable knowledge. Adhering to ethics allows researchers to deal cooperative approach towards their research with the assistance of their mentors, peers and other contributors. The following are some important ethical considerations in research;
Honesty: A researcher should strive for honesty in all their communications. Research ethics requires honest reports on data, results methods and procedures. Data should not be falsified, fabricated. The research sponsors, colleagues and the public should receive correct and honest information.
Respect for intellectual properties: intellectual properties include copyrights, and patents. A researcher should no use unpublished data without permission. Researchers should also give credit or proper acknowledgement for all contributions to their research.
Informed consent: informed consent means that “a person knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently, and in clear and manifest way, gives his or her consent” (Miller, 2012). This is one of the ways to ensure the participant’s right to autonomy is guaranteed. Free and informed consent requires an introduction to the research, explanation of its purpose as well as the procedure for selecting the participants. it also requires an explanation for any invasion of privacy, possible physical harm or discomfort and any threat to personal .
Respect for privacy: According to Miller (2012), a researcher invades privacy when they share information such as personal beliefs attitude, records and opinions with others without consent or knowledge of the participants. A research should not decide on behalf of the participant on such issues. When a participant in research does not provide certain information because they consider it as an invasion of privacy, the researcher must respect it. The researcher has a responsibility of protecting participants from potential damage whether physical, psychological or social damage (Oliver, 2010).
Analysis of Ethical Consideration in the Researchers
Vulnerable Groups of people: this is one of the ethical considerations in the research, “Conformity in the Asch experiment”. Vulnerable groups are people who cannot protect their rights. These people include mentally ill persons, children, and captive populations. The research on conformity was conducted at a time when America was very conservative. The researcher avoided using vulnerable groups as their subjects due to their inability to give informed consent. Other ethical considerations for this research were confidentiality and honesty and consent.
Respect for Confidentiality and anonymity were among the ethical concerns in the research, “will power over the lifespan: decomposing self-regulation” to ensure confidentiality and anonymity of the 500 participants of the research, records of the participants addresses were not kept. Although the research questions were sent through mails, addresses of the participants were not revealed to the public.
State and federal laws were a common ethical concern for all the three researches. All researches conducted by psychologists must comply with laws and regulations of the state.
Conclusion
When conducting research it is important for researchers to observe ethical norms. Since there is no clarity in ethical standards, researchers must always develop an effective frame work and awareness to deal with these problems. This is very important in dealing with with issues of the researches values relative to human rights versus the society interests. Professional ethical codes can provide direction, however, the researcher’s moral code and value system determines how the research is performed. To prepare future researchers ethical considerations must receive special attention.
References
Miller, T. (2012). Ethics in Qualitative Research. London: SAGE.
Oliver, P. (2010). The student's guide to research ethics. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
