Undertaking any work based project is of course going to raise ethical issues. This makes it very important for me to understand ethics, as a researcher who will inevitably be dealing with people when conducting my project.
‘Ethics (also known as moral philosophy) is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality; that is, about concepts such as good and bad, the noble and the ignoble, right and wrong, justice, and virtue.’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics
This definition has helped me to understand the word ethics in a broad sense, although I know that this topic can be divided into much smaller categories. It seems that at the root of the subject is a concern about something or someone other than ourselves, whether that be society in general, or certain people’s interests. Whilst conducting my research project I must think ‘ethically’ and give some thought to others rather than simply my own desires and self-importance.
Rosemary’s and other BAPP student’s blogs have helped me an awful lot with my study of research ethics. I has prompted me to look deeper into the subject and highlighted key areas of reflection:
1. Be aware that there is more than one type of Ethic. The two that were discussed were PRAGMATIC ethics and MORAL ethics. Here were the examples given:
Pragmatic Ethics- ‘You must always drive on the left-hand side of the road in England.’ This is something you should do, based on legislation, and not based on moral grounds.
Moral Ethics- ‘Adults must not have sexual relations with minors.’ This is choosing what is morally correct based on our individual moral principles.
2. Be aware of the importance, when analysing a questionnaire, of using the whole sentence so as to avoid taking it out of context. You must ensure that you are attributing fairly.
3. Ethical considerations:
-Be ethical in the questions set, do not show BIAS
-Be aware of deliberate fraud to produce desired results, do not lie.
-State how you will define confidentiality and anonymity to avoid misconceptions.
-Consider any risks to humans when conducting an experiment. If in doubt, would you be prepared to take part yourself? Risk of harm can be defined as both physical and psychological.
-Be aware of potentially sensitive subject matter.
I have also researched certain areas that will be beneficial towards my knowledge of ethics in considering: How can I make sure that I do my absolute best to ensure that all the participants in my research feel as comfortable as possible?
Voluntary Participation- This requires that the participants do not feel forced into taking part in the research, particularly understanding the notion of voluntary to mean that they may withdraw from the study at any point should they wish to.
This is very closely linked to Informed Consent. This means that the prospective research participants must be fully aware of the procedures and risks involved, and give their consent to participate. In my case, this has been gained in the form of a letter and also a verbal agreement. I must pay considerable attention to the consent of anyone participating under the age of 16.
“There are two standards that are applied in order to help protect the privacy of research participants. Almost all research guarantees the participant’s Confidentiality- they are assured that identifying information will not be made available to anyone who is not directly involved in the study. The stricter standard is the principle of Anonymity which essentially means that the participant will remain anonymous throughout the study, even to the researchers themselves. Clearly, the anonymity standard is a stronger guarantee of privacy, but it is sometimes difficult to accomplish, especially in situations where participants have to be measured at multiple time points.”
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ethics.php
I must also be aware of the involvement of an Ethics committee. No set of standards can possibly anticipate every ethical circumstance that may arise during a project. This is why this procedure is essential for me to consider all relevant issues in relation to my study when formulating a research proposal. This will also be reviewed by a secondary panel of persons with regards to ethical implications, whom decide whether additional action may need to be taken to assure the safety and rights of the participants.
Having also read through the chapter in Bell’s book ‘The Ethics and Integrity in Research,’ I feel overwhelmed with the amount I now have to consider when relating this knowledge to my own project. I must now think about reading more relating to the ethics concerned with working with children, as I will be conducting my research in a performing arts school. I hope that with a solid ethics proposal in place, the students and teachers can be enthusiastic and positive about the study.
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