This document discusses key issues in research ethics as outlined in the Belmont Report, including respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. It describes the role of institutional review boards in reviewing research plans and informed consent. Participants have a right to withdraw and should not be deceived. Incentives and debriefing are addressed, along with the importance of avoiding plagiarism by properly citing references.

1. RESEARCH ETHICS

2. RESEARCH ETHICS
Deals with how we treat those who participate in
our studies and how we handle the data after we
collect them
Belmont Report (1979) by the National
Commission for the Protection of Human
Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research-
ethical guideline for conducting research- three
issues

3. BELMONT REPORT
1. Respect for Persons- researchers must recognise participants as
autonomous agents, and those who have diminished
autonomy(the disabled , the young etc) should be granted
protection
2. Beneficence- maximise possible benefits and minimising
possible risk of the participants
3. Justice- fairness in the distribution of benefits and possible risk
across all participants. Eg. iniquitous Tuskgee experiments-
participants infected with syphilis- poor, black men who were
not informed the nature of the study

4. INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
colleges and universities- institutional review boards
should submit a thorough plan for data collection, a
copy of the informed consent sheet you will give
your participants, a description or sample of any
instruments you will administer to participants
Participants also have an implicit ethical obligation
to be honest as they answer questions

5. INFORMED CONSENT
People who participate in a research study have the right
to know that they are part of that study; it includes several
components.
Describing the details of the research study to the
participants or their legal representatives ( in case of
children)
Identifying any potential risks- informing participants that
they have the right to withdraw form the study at any time

6. OPPORTUNITY TO WITHDRAW
Participants who volunteer for a study must also
be allowed to discontinue participation
If research participants feel stressed, tired or
otherwise unable to continue the study to
complete, can discontinue

7. OFFERING INCENTIVES
Participation in research is technically voluntary
But in some cases, they should be compensated
for their lost wages, time and effort- based on the
risk

8. USING DECEPTION
It is the practice of giving false information to
research participants about some aspect of the
study
The purpose is to get participants to reveal their
true thoughts, feelings or behaviours which they
would not otherwise provide if the true nature of
the experiment were made known to them

9. DEBRIEFING
It involves revealing the purposes of the research
Usually it takes place at the conclusion of the study
An oral debriefing is also recommended if the research
participation was stressful or the research design was
complicated
Two purposes- it clears the rationale of the study; it can educate
participants about the topic at hand thereby increasing the
community’s collective knowledge about the issue

10. PLAGIARISM
Presenting the ideas or data of others as his or her own
Helen Keller (1880-1968)— Autumn leaves (the frost
king)
“Helen Keller was afraid to write creatively for years”
Acknowledging references as a solution to plagiarism

11. REFERENCES
David & Sutton. 2011. Social Research- an introduction. New Delhi: Sage (Pp. 29-53).