research

1. Week No3
L E C T U R E N A M E
E T H I C S A N D L E G A L I S S U E S I N R E S E A R C H
Al-Ghad International
College for Applied Medical
Sciences
R AD IOLOGIC AL SC IEN C ES
D EPARTMEN T
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
MIT 438

2. Lecture objective
By the end of this lecture the students will be
able to:
 Identify Major approaches to ethics
 define Research ethics
 Know Ethical Concerns to the
Research Community
 Demonstrate the Protection from
Mental and Physical Harm

3. Content
 Research ethics
 Major approaches to ethics
 Ethical Concerns to the Research
Community
 Informed Consent with Minors as
Research Participants

4.  Research ethics
 is specifically interested in the analysis
of ethical issues that are raised when
people are involved as participants
in research.

5. Ethics
 What are ethics?
 common ethical issues
that seem to surface
in research.
 When should ethical
issues be considered?

6. Ethics
 Ethics: principles for guiding decision
making and reconciling conflicting values
 People may disagree on ‘ethics’ because it is
based on people's personal value systems
 What one person considers to be good or
right may be considered bad or wrong by
another person

7.  Research ethics is most developed as a
concept in medical research.

8. Major approaches to ethics
 Deontological Approach
 This approach states that we should
identify and use a Universal code when
making ethical decisions. An action is
either ethical or not ethical, without
exception.

9.  Ethical skepticism
 This is the relativist viewpoint, stating
that ethical standards are not universal
but are relative to one's particular
culture and time.

10.  Utilitarianism
 This is a very practical viewpoint, stating
that decisions about the ethics of a
study should depend on the balance of
the consequences and benefits for the
research participants and the larger
society.

11.  The utilitarian approach is used by most
people in academia (such as Institutional
Review Boards).
 "Do the potential benefits outweigh the
risks associated with this research?"

12. Ethical Concerns to the Research Community
1. The relationship between society
and science.
 Many research ideas come from areas
considered important in society.
 The federal government and other
funding agencies use grants to affect
the areas researchers choose to
examine.

13. Informed Consent with Minors as
Research Participants
 Consent must be obtained from parents
or guardians.
 Assent must also be obtained from
minors who are old enough or have
enough intellectual capacity to say they
are willing to participate.

14. Deception
 Providing false information to the participant about the nature
and/or purpose of the study
 It is discouraged by the AERA (American Educational Research Associstion), but
not disallowed in all cases.
 Sometimes deception is required in order to conduct a valid research study. The
researcher must justify the use of deception.
 If deception is used the following are very important:
 Debriefing is an interview with the research participant providing an opportunity
for the experimenter to reveal deceptive aspects of the study and for the
participant to have any questions about the study answered.
 Dehoaxing: informing the participant about deceptive aspects of the
research study
 Desensitizing: eliminating any stress or other undesirable feelings the
study may have created

15. Freedom to Withdraw
 Participants must be informed that they are
free to withdraw from the study at any time
without penalty.
 If you have a power relationship with the
participants you must be extra careful to make
sure that they really do feel free to withdraw.

16. Protection from Mental and Physical Harm
 This is the most fundamental ethical issue
confronting the researcher.
 Educational research generally poses
minimal risk to participants.