Unit 4

Research Ethics
 The research Ethics - basic

• Ethics – norms for conduct.

• Ethical norms - ‘body of principles governing
right and wrong’.
• Research Norms - guidelines for
• Conducting research work (data collection,
analysis, interpretation)
• authorship copyright and patenting,
• data sharing,
• confidentiality rules in peer review, etc.
 The research Ethics - basic

o Aims of research – knowledge, truth and avoidance of error.

o Anything which is different from this is unethical.
o Research misconduct/unethical research:
 Falsification – altering data
 Fabrication – creating data
 Plagiarism – borrowing ideas or words without appropriate
attribution
 Misrepresenting research data-Eg.measuring blood
pressure
 Copyright (legal protection of intellectual property)
 Original works of authorship (books, software)
 particular expression of an idea in the work
 The research Ethics - importance

1. Promote the aims of research (knowledge, truth and

avoidance of error)

2. Promote the values essential to collaborative work ( trust,

accountability, mutual respect, and fairness)

3. Ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the

public

4. Help to build public support for research

5. Promote moral and social values (human rights, animal

welfare, health and safety)
 Ethical Codes of Practice

• Many learned bodies have published ethical codes

of practice, for example:
 Medical Research Council
 Economic and Social Research Committee
 Welcome Trust
 The Nuffield Foundation
 British Society of Criminology
 The British Sociological Society
 National research ethics guidelines – Ministry of
Science and Technology, Ethiopia
Ethical Codes of Practice
 Ethical Codes of Practice

http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/rcr/rcr_mentoring/
Ethical Codes of Practice

http://www.primr.org/
 Research Ethics –Additional Note

Ethical Code Development

• Some ethical principles many codes addresses:
• Honesty – in reporting data, results, methods, procedures.
No fabrication, falisify, etc.
• Objectivity – strive to avoid bias in experimental design,
data analysis, etc.
• Integrity – keeping promises and agreements
• Carefulness – avoid carless errors and negligence;
critically examine your work, etc.
• Openness – share data, results, ideas, etc. And, be open to
criticism.
• Respect for intellectual property – honour patents,
copyrights, etc. Do not use unpublished data without
permission. Give credit when credit is due.
 Ethical Code Development

• Confidentiality – protect confidential communications such

as paper submitted for publication, etc.
• Legality – know and obey relevant laws; institutional and
government policies
• Animal care – use proper respect and care when animals are
used in research.
• Human study participants’ protection – minimize harms and
risks and maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy;
take special precautions with vulnerable, special, sick
populations, minority groups, etc.
 Group Discussion

• Take the following case studies.

• Each group discuss the ethical implications of the case study
• Articulate your position on the ethical implications of the case
study.
• Come up with suggested measures that has to be taken by the
researcher
• Present the essence of your discussion
 Group Discussion

Cases
1. With the aim of teaching the people in town X about the extent
of HIV/AIDS in the town, a doctor planned, to do a research on
Assessment of HIV/AIDS transmission in town X
It is without their knowledge that he planned to test bloods of
patients who appear to his clinic.
Is this kind of research ethical?
2. Do you think that research on cloning is ethical?
3. Do u think that abortion is ethical?
Question????
• What kind of research in your field seems to you unethical?
• Give a topic in your field on ethical dilemma.
Case study For Group Discussion and Presentation
Give Explanation with additional Example or based
on any Ethical code.

G1-(group 1) work about research ethics/un ethical:

 Research findings which violate national

interest/benefit/announcements. Eg1.The discharge
of Nile river is 70BM m3
 Unauthorized data collected from various source
although the data has no error.
 Research topic with the same topic and content with
other person Unknowingly.
G2-(group 2) work about research ethics/un ethical:

 Collecting data / samples and analyzing the data

other than intended purpose. Eg2.The agricultural
researcher collects data to analyze the impact of
rain on yield but later the data analyzed to
determine the wealth status of the farmer with out
the knowledge of the farmer.
 Group Discussion

Eg2 The doctor wants to determine the blood type of

certain specific community but later the data used to
determine how much the community affected by HIV
virus (my case example from Methera sugar factory).

 Is there any rule/guidline which obliged the

donor/respondent to assist in delivering/giving the
required data for researcher .
 What are the mechanisms/method to keep
unprocessed data/un published idea/ findings? How
do we identify/confirm the owner of research idea?

• What kind of research in your field seems to you

unethical?

• Give a topic in your field on ethical dilemma.

Thank you