1. Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Chapter Three
Ethics: What Are My
Responsibilities as a Researcher?

2. Key Concepts
• Communication research could harm
participants.
• Classic ethical positions provide bases for
decisions about treating participants.
• Codes of practice provide practical guidelines
about treating participants.
• Formal review is often required where research
on humans is proposed.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

3. For Discussion
Would you . . .
▫ Show participants offensive materials?
▫ Deliberately deceive participants?
▫ Accept funding from a source that wants
your research to help sell its products?
▫ Start false rumors?
▫ Record people’s behavior without them
being aware of it?
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

4. Some Classic Ethical Positions
• Judeo-Christian -
“Do unto others.”
• Kant – categorical imperative –
A behavior is valid if you are willing to accept it as a
universal rule.
• Bentham, Mill – utilitarianism –
Greatest good for the greatest number.
• Rawls – “Veil of Ignorance” –
Dispassionate; review all sides of decision equally.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

5. The Purpose of Ethics Codes
The primary purpose of ethics codes
in human communication research is
to protect research participants.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

6. Key Points of Ethics Codes
• Do no harm.
• Informed consent.
• Voluntary participation.
• Participants can leave at any time.
• Debriefing after the study.
• Anonymity or confidentiality.
• Crediting other researchers.
• Full reporting.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

7. Nuremberg & Helsinki Codes
Nuremberg Code (1948) –
▫ Participants must consent to research.
▫ Research benefits must outweigh risks.
Declaration of Helsinki (1964) –
▫ Review by independent committee.
▫ Informed consent.
▫ Research by qualified individuals.
▫ Research benefits should exceed risks.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

8. The Belmont Report (1979)
• Respect for Persons
▫ Information.
▫ Comprehension.
▫ Voluntariness.
• Beneficence
▫ Maximize benefits / minimize harm.
• Justice
▫ Fair procedures and outcomes in selecting
research subjects.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

9. Peer Review
• Basic Assumption:
Those best equipped to evaluate your work and
its impact on human participants are
appropriately qualified people doing similar
work to your own.
• Formal Review:
 Institutional Review Boards, editorial
process.
• Informal Review:
 Networking, conferences.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

10. Institutional Review Board
IRB
A formal review mechanism established to
review research proposals for their impact on
human participants.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

11. Relationships of Participants to
Researchers.
• Subject
• Respondent
• Informant
• Participant
• Collaborator
• Partner
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

12. Ethics of the Literature Review
• How far back in time to review.
• Use of secondary sources (summary articles)
versus primary (original) sources.
• Reporting research that does not support
your viewpoint.
• Reporting research that is proprietary
(“owned”).
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

13. Ethical Issues in Reporting
Research
• Honesty.
• Plagiarism.
• Confidentiality or anonymity.
• Crediting others.
• Appropriate language.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

14. The Internet and Research Ethics
Advantages
• Rapid access to large numbers of research
participants.
• Low cost.
Disadvantages
• Conceptual problems defining the Internet.
• Practical problems of sampling, obtaining
consents & establishing authenticity of
participants
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

15. The Internet Research Ethics
Dilemma
• Human participants are being studied.
• Consent of participants is therefore required.
versus
• The web is published content.
• Internet research is content analysis.
• Consent of participants is therefore not required.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

16. Guidelines for Internet Research
• The more vulnerable the participants, the
greater the researcher’s obligation to protect
them.
• The more public the venue, the less obligation
there may be to protect individual privacy,
confidentiality, & right to informed consent.
Adopted from the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) -
http://aoir.org/documents/ethics-guide.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

17. Chapter Summary
Research Ethics . . .
• Focus on how research participants should be
treated.
• Basic concern is protecting participants from
harm.
• Review mechanisms include IRBs and informal
peer review.
• Formal ethics codes include “Nuremberg”,
“Helsinki”, the Belmont Report and the
“Common Rule”.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

18. Vocabulary Review
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

19. Vocabulary Review
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications

20. Web Resources
• The National Institutes of Health Bioethics
Resources -
http://bioethics.od.nih.gov/IRB.html
• American Psychological Association -
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
• American Association for Public Opinion
Research -
http://www.aapor.org/aaporcodeofethics
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications