MRE1x_2020_Module_2_7_Research_ethics-video

Ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you please take your seats at this time as the program will begin momentarily. When doing research, it is important that you adhere to the ethical standards of research. With that, I mean that in your research design and execution, you must take into account the impact of your research on the people involved, other people it may affect, but also society as a whole and the environment we live in.

Adhering to ethical standards when doing research is vital, as failure to behave ethically will not only affect your reputation but that of science as a whole. In many fields, research is bound by formalized ethical guidelines. Your organization will likely have a policy in place on this topic.

Especially in the fields of medical research, research involving biological, nuclear or hazardous materials, as well as research involving human subjects applying for ethical permission is mandatory. The human subject research encompasses any research that involves human subjects, even a simple online survey. There are a number of principles you must follow to carry out your research in an ethically responsible way.

Firstly, respect the people involved in your research, safeguard them from physical, mental and emotional harm. Secondly, Do a Risk-Benefit analysis. Research should only be done if its worthwhile and provides value and this must outweigh any risk or harm involved.

A thorough risk assessment should therefore be carried out and measures to mitigate all potential risk and harm must be taken before carrying out your research. Thirdly, be non-discriminative. Ensure that your research is a fair representation and does not benefit or is prejudicial against a certain group.

This is especially a risk when you carry our convenience sampling, i. e. that you make use of the groups easily available to you, which may make your results biased.

For instance,when you interview students about how easy they find it to learn programming, asking only engineering students, as they are easily available to you, may not be a representative sample. Four, use informed consent: Ensure that all participants and staff involved in the research are given appropriate information about the purpose of the research, how the research will be carried out, how their data will be processed and stored. Have this information also available on paper and ask for participant’s written consent to participate in the research.

For research involving children or vulnerable people even more stringent rules will apply. Also, ensure your participants are given the opportunity to withdraw from the research at any moment and have their data deleted. Next, Confidentiality and Data: Ensure your research data is stored in a responsible fashion, in line with data laws and that only data stored that is needed.

Also, only store your data for the time it is needed, especially identifyable data, and ensure that your data is anonymized where possible. Always respect the confidentiality of data, especially in view of informed consent. Never share data without consent or publish data that can be led back to an individual.

Also, ensure the Integrity of your research: Meet the recognized standards of integrity, quality and transparency. At least once a year, there is a highly publicised case of researchers being found to have falsified data or plagiarised work from others. Other examples of integrity violations are: manipulating data, suppressing findings, misrepresenting data and findings and not giving all researchers involved credit for their work.

Finally, Independence of research. If you want to convince people of your findings, it is important that you are seen as an independent researcher who is not unduely influenced by other interested parties. Ensure you avoid conflicts of interest wherever possible, and be clear about any potential conflicts of interest, or where there is a risk of an appearance of such a conflict.

Declare all funding you received, avoid obtaining personal gain or having commitments and obligations to others that may influence or may be seen to influence your research and its outcomes. In short: when designing your research, take applicable ethical guidelines, such as those on human subject research, into account, and check if you need to apply for ethical permission within your organization. Finally, be as transparent as possible about how you carried out your research and how you came to your findings.