Ethical Issues In Research Projects At UK Universities

Identify and analyse 3 major ethical issues relating to preparing, planning and undertaking a research project at UK university.

Critically evaluate the choices regarding research philosophy; this should include examining the importance of understanding research approaches at master’s level.

Ethics referred to the moral principles or standards that govern the behavior of a person while conducting any activity. In context to research, ethics is related to the way in which a researcher treats the participants while conducting his research (Denzin and Giardina 2016). In any research study, it is very important to give ethical approval prior to the commencement of a specific research study. In fact, it is now regarded to be a standard practice that the researches that make use of animals and human participants must be approved to commencement by the institutional ethical review committee. However, it is to note that people absorb their ethical standards from their homes and communities including schools, colleges etc. They discover their basic sense of what is right and what is not during their childhood and their moral judgments carry on developing all through their lives. Such rules and morals also contributes in the sense how we expect others to behave with us and these rules and morals are linked with the values and the judgments that are regarded to be appropriate to several ethics and situations that aid to directing the activities of the individuals and groups as well as help the people in reaching a valid conclusion.

There are certain moral judgments that could be applied to a specific situation in order to make the decision and to guide our behaviors (Denzin and Giardina 2016). Undoubtedly, they are related to the cultural values at a precise time frames in the history and they are also subject to changes with the evolvement of values and attitudes. Following ethical standards in a research project helps in promoting the research aim that comprise of the accuracy, data and the circumvention of the mistakes. While conducting a research study there might be emergence of a general conflict in between the speedy conduct of a particular study and the problem of doing the thing that id deferential to the animals and the human beings (Harriss and Atkinson 2015). When the researchers are focused on the expansion of knowledge as well as on the methodology of the projects such as equipment and personnel, subject selection, statistical analysis, sample size and the research protocols. With the same, as importantly accountable individuals, they try hard to respect the environment of the research that requires serious attention to the appropriate exercise of both the physical resources like funds as well as the human and animal subject matters.

Informed Consent

Ethical issues are something that cannot be ignored in any way and they are directly linked with the integrity of a research piece as well as the disciplines that are involved in it. Ethics are considered to be an important part of every research project. One might think that ethics is just one of the stages of a research study and that it is tackled by filing out a standardized set of forms that are submitted to the ethics committee (Guillemin and Gillam 2014). It is to note that ethics at present has become the cornerstone for conducting meaningful and effective research study. Therefore, the ethical behavior of an individual researchers is under unparalleled scrutiny. In present society, any type of concerns related to the ethical practices would negatively impact the attitudes about the science and abuses that are committed by some and this often receives a wide-spread publicity.

The major ethical issues in conducting a research study are that of the informed consent, beneficence, and respect for privacy.

Informed consent- The informed consent involves the process through which an individual might choose whether or not to be involved in the research study proposed by the investigator (Harriss and Atkinson 2015). In this case, the task of the researchers is to make sure that the participants that are to be involved in the study have a well-detailed and complete knowledge of the methods and the purpose that is to be used in the research study along with the risks that involved in it as well as the demands that are placed upon them as a participant (Nebekar et al. 2016). Every researchers need to be obliged to affirm the vitality of adhering with the ethical principles of the informed consent along with their roles in the very research study. The participants must also gain an in-depth knowledge that he or she has the right to withdraw from the study whenever they want to. Basically, there are two different forms of consent and they are substitute and direct (Palinkas et al. 2015). The substitute consent is also referred to as third party consent because it is given by a person other than the one involved in the study. It could be obtained during the times when it is determined that the individual does not have the potential to make the decision and is dependent on others for his own welfare. The children who belong from under the age of 18 and the people undergoing emotional or cognitive disabilities fall under such. Secondly, direct consent, the most preferred one, is obtained directly from the individuals who are to be involved in the research study. Both these consents is necessary to meet the needs for informed consent. In this research study, the researcher would be attaining ample amount of consent from the departmental participants as well as the organizational management (Palinkas et al. 2015). The researcher shall warn the included participants about the potential harm related to the study and would provide a very clear image for the participants for refusing to contribute as well as for ending their involvement at any time as according to their wishes.

Beneficence

Beneficence- This might include many aspects such as physical harm, mental stress and the potential harm to the livelihood and the confidence of the participants. The ethical standards make it necessary for the researchers to not force the involved participants in a particular situation where there might be a risk of them to get harm because of their action of participating in the research study. Many of the participants such as the employees working in organizations think that if they participate in the research study and are asked on their workplace culture and processes, they might get in trouble as their boss might not like them to share their opinions. Hence, it is the responsibility of the researcher to help in protecting the privacy of the involved participants and to make them feel comfortable enough to give honest and open feedbacks and opinions (Green et al. 2015). Majority of the research study could pledge the confidentiality of the individual answers of the participants that they would not be available to any third person who are outside of the research study. The research that have the possibility of harming the participants is considered by most of the people as unacceptable.

Respect for privacy- Privacy for the participants of the research refers to the concept in the research ethics that states that an individual belonging from the human subject matter has the full right to privacy while participating in the research (Bender et al. 2017). It is the point when the right to privacy and the objective of the study often comes into conflict. Privacy refers to the freedom that an individual has to determine the extent, time and the general circumstances under which the private information would be shares with others. As per Green et al. (2015), the invasion of privacy takes place when the private information like the attitudes, records, opinions and the beliefs are shared with the others without their consent or knowledge. A researcher cannot decide on behalf of the other available participants on such delicate issues. All instruments, aims and methodologies needs to be discussed with the prospective of the subject as well as the research workers before the process of investigation.

Conclusion

Hence, from the above discussion it is to state that if the research is based on a robust design and if it is conducted in an ethical way, the outcomes of the research and the process of knowledge generation could be of great benefit to each and everyone who are involved. Ethics is a research study involves the consideration of what is right and what is wrong. It is about doing the things that is accurate. However, the accuracy of the research study is not as simple as it is conveyed to a wide range of business ethics text. According to most of the ethicist, there is always a right thing to do on the basis of moral codes. With the same, some others believe that the right thing that is to be done depends on the mere situation. Most of the philosophers considers the ethics to be the science of conduct. Hence, ethical conduct is been perceived differently among different people. However, awareness about the research ethics is very critical. Furthermore, the identification of the ethical issues at the primary stages of the research project offers an opening for evaluating the latent concerns about the principles, the rights and the values of the participants as well as the researcher in conjunction with the organizational or public interest.

Respect for Privacy

Introduction

Research philosophy is a very large topic and it deals with the development, nature and the source of knowledge. In other words, it can be said that the research philosophy refers to the belief regarding the ways in which information and data regarding a phenomenon must be collected, used and analyzed. Although, it is a fact that the idea for knowledge creation might appear to be very profound, one gets engaged in the creation of knowledge as a part of completing the research study.

There are several studies that has elaborated and discussed the diverse classification and explanation of the subject research philosophy. As per Chinn and Rinehart (2016), philosophy refers to the system of assumptions and beliefs regarding the development of the knowledge. It is to note that the development of knowledge must be an implanted theme within a particular research study. A very significant research project could be attained by applying a wide range of philosophy methodologies which could express the explanations at the time of whole process as well as help the researchers in reaching an understanding of the assumptions which have been regarded in the research. By means of determining the different complexities which might take place at the time of a research study, the researcher needs to be embraced a research philosophy which notably sets out the direction of a specific subject  of the research and would follow the key paradigms that would defined the key theory of their study.

There are different scholars who have spent several years doing debates on whether this assortment of the research philosophies, methodologies and paradigms are appropriate. However, none of them have reached to a firm agreement. Although the supporters of the research philosophies possess common notions about the definition of axiology, epistemology and ontology, there is no precision in the composition and classification of these approaches (Dillon and Wals 2016). Being a researcher, deciding or choosing which research philosophy to use for encompassing many important assumptions regarding the ways in which the world is viewed. These assumptions would strengthen the research strategy and is possibly to be the individual interpretation of the relation in between the knowledge and the process through which it is created.

It is to state that among all the approaches of research methodologies, there are three major proportions in the discussion about the research philosophy and they are- epistemology, ontology and axiology. Firstly, epistemology refers to the contemplation of what comprise of the reality (Chinn and Rinehart 2016). Secondly, ontology explains about the norms and rights of the reality. Lastly, axiology refers to the origin of the strategy that is to be used in the research study (Bilau, Witt and Lill 2018). Each of these approaches contain important differences that would influence the processes in which the researcher would think regarding the process and such research paradigm include interconnected practices which classify the actual nature of the study within the parameters of these proportions. However, it is also to note that the research philosophies could result in fluctuation of the actual research goals and objectives and the manner in which these goals need to be achieved. As per Lewis (2015), the different approaches of research methodologies are the basic set of beliefs that guides the actions of the researcher. However, later on the contemporary academics like Fitzgerald and Howcroft (2015) have deliberated the research philosophies from axiological, epistemological and ontological perspective like pragmatism, positivism and interpretivism. With the same, the researchers like Schreiber (2015) have discussed the ontological perspective encasing the materialism, relativism, idealism and realism as well as the epistemological interpretation that is comprised of interpretivism and positivism.

1. Choice of approaches

Research Philosophy and its Importance

The choice of a particular research philosophy is influenced by the practical implications. There are crucial philosophical differences in between the studies which focus on the numbers and facts such as a brief analysis of the effect of the foreign direct investment on the GDP growth level and the qualitative studies like the analysis of the leadership style on the issue of employee motivation in an organization. The choice in between the interpretivist and the positivist research philosophies or in between the qualitative and the quantitative research methods has earlier represented as one of the major points of debate. However, the latest developments in the practice of conducting the studies have significantly increased the popularity of the realism philosophies and pragmatism. Hence, the most popular data collection methods that are associated with every research philosophy include positivism, pragmatism, realism and interpretivism (Lewis 2015). However, it is also to mention that there is no methodology which can be regarded as superior to the others and this is why, the researchers must undertake a research study that should contemplate encouraging a mixed research methods for improving the quality of the research study. With the same, it is also to note that it is widely known that research study might comprise of the factors such as interpretivist and positivist methods that would create a value for the research study if it is appropriately employed.  

It is also to note in this context that there are two main choices for research and they are induction and deduction. With the help of induction, data and information are collected and theories are developed as a result of data analysis (Blagden 2016). On the other hand, with the help of deduction, a hypothesis and a theory are developed. With the same, with deduction, a research strategy is also designed in order to test the hypothesis.

2. Research strategies

The research strategy of a research paper introduces the major component of the research study like the topic area and its focus, the research design, the perspective as well as the research methods. This refers how the researcher propose to answer the research questions and he or she would implement the research methodology. The main research strategies of a research paper are qualitative interviews, case study, and quantitative survey and action-oriented research (Bentahar and Cameron 2015). The case study strategy focuses on a deep investigation of a single case for the research accuracy and efficiency. In the case study research, the information are sought from various different sources and by the use of different types of data like survey, observations, document analysis and interviews. The data could be quantitative, qualitative or can be mixed as well. Furthermore, the qualitative interviews refer to the different types of qualitative interviews like the structured, unstructured or the semi-structured and this is the most widely used method for collecting data (Fitzgerald and Howcroft 2015). The interviews enables access to rich amount of  information and they needs extensive planning regarding the development of the structures and the decision regarding who to interview and how to do that, whether or not to conduct group interviews to go for individual interviews as well as how to record the interviews and analyze them. With the same, the quantitative survey is one of the widely used research methods and it allows the access to notably high number of participants. The availability of the online websites has made it easier for a wide yet cheap distribution of surveys and other information relevant to different research studies. Furthermore, the action-oriented research refers to the practical business research process that is directed or aimed towards the change or the creation of certain recommendations for the change (Bilau, Witt and Lill 2018). The action-oriented research study refers to the participatory process that brings together different practices and theories, reflection and action. Such projects are often carried out by the insiders as because of the fact that it is grounded in the requirement to actively involve the participants for developing ownership of the project.

Conclusion

Conclusions and recommendations

Hence, from the above discussion it is clear that the terms philosophy is related to the development process of the knowledge and its nature. It contains important assumptions regarding the ways in which the researcher view the world. There are three main ways of thinking regarding the research philosophy and they are ontology, epistemology and axiology. Each of these contain important differences that would influence the manner in which the researcher think of the process of research.

It is the duty of every researcher to have an in-depth understanding of different approaches of research philosophy so that he or she could easily determine what should be employed to make a proper research study. There is of great importance for a researcher to have an awareness and in-depth understanding about the different research approaches that are necessary for performing any research project. It is necessary for the researcher to anticipate the probable fluctuations and the unexpected conditions which might potentially arise at the time of the research process. Hence, identification of the philosophy model and implementation of the carefully chosen research strategies would demonstrate an understanding and awareness from the researcher and shall also ensure that the research study could be appropriately maintained.

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