Research ethics and nature of practitioner research - Literature review Example

Download file to see previous pages Even so, it has only been until recent that, in education, teachers began benefitting from the practice. Practitioner research has been employed as a means of bridging the gap between practices and theory. There have been the urges for teachers to cultivate action research as a way of improving education, as well as reconstructing knowledge (Berker 103). Other areas of practice have also not been left behind, all targeting to add to existing information, as well as bridging the gap between theory and practice. Various debates pertaining to practitioner research have emerged. As such, there have been deliberations pertaining to the real nature of practitioner research, as well as its values, qualities and the underlying activities. This paper explores the nature of practitioner research. Besides, ethical codes of conduct have been one of the areas that can not be overlooked as far as the efficacy of practitioner research is concerned. Putting this into consideration, this paper explores various issues pertaining to ethics, in relation to practitioner research. Ethics and practitioner Research Ethics are about actions people or members of certain community should undertake. There is a close relationship between ethics and morality. Thus, a practitioner who behaves in a manner that is moral can be said to uphold ethics For instance, journalists who tell the truth would be said to be ethical. In the same way, soldiers ought to be courageous and a research practitioner should stick to ethics of research (Pewro 56). Ethics are also a set of desirable feature that an organization needs its members to uphold. Despite the fact that fact that ethics have often been associated with mannerism or etiquette, the two terms are not the same. In this regard, codes of ethics should not incline on areas such as a mode of dressing, as well as politeness of the research practitioners. Additionally, there is no association between aesthetics and ethics. Parallels can only be drawn between morality and ethics. Thus, ethical codes of conduct are based on principles of morality. Nevertheless, it also encompasses what is desirable. For instance, a mechanical engineer may insist on certain wheels because he is concerned about upholding safety. Research practitioners may insist on certain approaches because of reliability. Clearly, such may be beyond the stipulations of moral principles, as well as the law (Ayres and Braithwaite 23). Sanctions should only be applied in relation to minimum standards (morality), rather than the expected ideals (ethics). The perception that ethical codes of conduct are rules that delineate actions that are supposed to be carried out is not comprehensive. More often than not, ethics allude to virtues, such as those pertaining to integrity, and condemn vices such as those associated with dishonesty. In addition, codes of conduct ought to touch on attitudes such as empathy and sympathy (Bless 34). In all these cases, ethos and the culture of organization, society or community are what influence the ethical code of conduct. Culture can be viewed as attitudes of people towards certain subjects, people or actions. The subject of ethic is often inclined on culture; thus, any approach pertaining to ethics and ethical code of conduct should put into consideration various cultural aspects. In this regard, the ethical codes of ...Download file to see next pagesRead More