The Ethical Principles in - Research Paper Example

Research ethics can be defined as the application of basic ethical principles to the subject of study. It includes designing and implementation of the research, human trialing, experimentation on animals, and various other aspects of research. It is also very much crucial to consider the ethical codes before carrying out the task of research design for data collection. Generally, there are three objectives in research ethics they are protecting the participants, conducting the research in such a way that it serves the purpose of the society as a whole, and finally ensuring that research actions are ethically sound.

However, in the context of social and behavioral research, there are many incidents where we find there is a lack of ethical soundness in the research. History of Ethical Principles in Research The Nuremberg trial addressed the experimentation of human beings in the context of patient rights and protection of the human subjects. The code includes:- a) Research that is based on humans must be trialed on animals. b) Risks should be according to the perceived benefits. c) The research that is based on humans must be carried out by qualified researchers. Belmont Report The Belmont report was developed by ‘The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research’.

It was issued in the year 1979 (“The Belmont Report”). The report summarizes the primary ethical principles and guidelines that should help in the process of determining ethical issues. The report is divided into two sections namely 1) Limitations between research and practice. 2) Fundamental ethical principles. Regulations and Social and Behavioral Sciences A research review committee is an Institutional Review Board (IRB) that must make certain that human research subject needs to be protected.

Therefore the questions that should be asked are:- Is the subject of study reasonable? Whether the risks are minimized or not? Whether the risks are justified according to the benefits? Is there a map to control and monitor the security and safety of the subject of study? Assessing Risk in Social and Behavioral Science There are many associated risks with the study of social and behavioral science. Therefore some of the possible risks could be a violation of confidentiality, breach of the procedure of study, inaccurate predictions, and also the gauged result.

However, the risks are psychological, socieconomicical, and sometimes physical. Informed Consent The participants of the research study must be given sufficient information regarding the study so that they can decide whether to take part or not. They should be informed because the research needs continuous involvement of the participants. Privacy and Confidentiality Any psychological or behavioral research needs high privacy as it mostly deals with secret matters. Moreover, discretion and solitude are important factors in the research.