Page 50 - Academic and Research Book_WEB

To sum up, the codification of research ethics is important in ensuring the relevance of social science
research as well as its significance and utility. It also ensures that the best principles of scientific
methodology are followed in the social inquiry. But it must be recognized that research ethics is
evolving and, in that sense, is fluid rather than dense, although this does not translate to nonchalance
in its application.

Currently, four well-known moral principles constitute the basis for ethics in research. These are:

1. The Principle of Non-maleficence: Research must not cause harm to the participants in particular
and to the people in general.
2. The Principle of Beneficence: Research should also make a positive contribution towards the
welfare of people.
3. The Principle of Autonomy: Research must respect and protect the rights and dignity of
participants.
4. The Principle of Justice: The benefits and risks of research should be fairly distributed among
people. (NCESSRH, 2004)
A more evolved set of principles, more appropriate to all social sciences may be broadly categorized
as: (1) respect for individuals, and (2) respect for groups and institutions.

Respect for individuals: This includes respect for human dignity, respect for integrity and freedom,
and the obligation to avoid injury; to obtain informed consent; to ensure individual’s privacy; ensure
confidentiality; to protect the rights of children, and guard and store information safely and securely.

Respect for groups and institutions: This includes regard for disadvantaged groups; for cultures and
their preservation; for private interests and public bodies.

Respecting and protecting scientific integrity; affording and acknowledging contributions of others;
eschewing plagiarism are other important principles.

Following from this the fundamental questions that every researcher must ask (Williams, 2003):

• What moral principles guide your research?
• How do ethical issues influence your selection of a research problem?
• How do ethical issues affect how you conduct your research: the design, sampling procedure,
and so on?

• What responsibility do you have toward your research subjects? For example, do you have their
informed consent to participate in your project?

• What ethical issues/dilemmas might come into play in deciding what research findings you
publish?

• Will your research directly benefit those who participated in the study?
In keeping with these aims, the rest of this text is divided as follows: Research ethics as it applies to:

• Choosing the topic of research, conducting literature survey and framing the research question;
• Choosing the research design, methodology and constructing or tools;
• Responsibilities towards the participants of research;
• Data collection, data storage, data utilization, and data security and the analyses of the data;

• Responsibilities towards the community or society, which is the subject area of research;
informing the participant population of the research findings;

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