Lesson 4

Ethical Principle of Research

• Standards for conduct that distinguish between right & wrong.

• helps us determine the difference between acceptable & unacceptable

• Guidelines for the responsible conduct of research

• Educated & monitors researchers to ensure high ethical standard.

Belmont Report

Guides researchers in protecting the rights, safety, & dignity of people participating in Research.

There are 3 Ethical principles which are the following:

1. Respect for persons (capacity to decide & autonomy)

2. Beneficence

3. Justice

Respect for persons

1.1. People should be treated as autonomous

1.2. People with diminidhed autonomy should be protected

Autonomous

A person can make his or her decisions about what to do & what to agree to.

1.1. People should be treated as autonomous

• Participants / respondents / subjects should be voluntarily agree to participate / join the research (consent form)

• they must be provided with complete information about the research process & decide on their own whether to voluntarily participate or not

1.2. People with diminished autonomy should be protected

• Young children; people who are very ill or those with mental disabilities

• These people cannot make a decisions on their own; If the needs arise to involve them in research, their parentd, guardians will sign on behalf of them

Beneficence

• Doing no harm

• Researchers have the moral duty to promote the course of actions that they believe is the best interests of participants, respondents, subjects.

Justice

• In research means being fair in the recruitment of participants

• Never include people that they are invunrsble & less able to decline participating, because they are scared of saying “no”

Ethical issues in Research

1. Voluntary Participation

2. Informed consent

3. Free from risk of harm

4. Confidentiality

5. Anonymity

Confidentiality

Sources of information should be kept incognito. Thid mesns that they are not divulged outside in research team & their identity remains a secret.

Anonymity

This a condition in which the identity of individual subjects is not known to researchers.