Importance Of Ethics In Social Research – The ideas and opinions expressed in this essay are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the NIH, , or the US government.
When most people think of ethics (or morality), they think of rules for distinguishing between good and evil, such as the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), codes of professional conduct such as the Hippocratic Oath (“First of all, do no evil”), a religious creed like the Ten Commandments (“Thou shalt not kill…”) or wise aphorisms like the sayings of Confucius. This is the most common way to define “ethics”: norms of behavior that distinguish acceptable from unacceptable behavior.
Importance Of Ethics In Social Research
Most people learn ethical norms at home, at school, at church, or in other social settings. Although most people acquire a sense of right and wrong during childhood, moral development occurs throughout life and human beings go through different stages of growth as they mature. Ethical norms are so ubiquitous that one might be tempted to think of them as simple common sense. On the other hand, if morality is nothing more than common sense, then why are there so many ethical disputes and questions in our society?
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One plausible explanation for these discrepancies is that all people recognize some common ethical norms, but interpret, apply, and balance them in different ways in light of their own values and life experiences. For example, two people might agree that murder is wrong, but disagree about the morality of abortion because they have different understandings of what it means to be human.
Most societies also have legal rules that govern behavior, but ethical norms tend to be broader and more informal than laws. Although most societies use laws to enforce widely accepted moral standards, and ethical and legal rules use similar concepts, ethics and law are not the same. An action can be legal but unethical or illegal but ethical. We can also use ethical concepts and principles to criticize, evaluate, propose or interpret the law. Indeed, in the last century many social reformers encouraged citizens to disobey laws they considered immoral or unjust. Peaceful civil disobedience is an ethical way of protesting laws or expressing political views.
Another way of defining ‘ethics’ focuses on disciplines that study standards of behavior, such as philosophy, theology, law, psychology or sociology. For example, a “medical ethicist” is someone who studies ethical standards in medicine. Ethics can also be defined as a method, procedure, or perspective for deciding how to act and for analyzing complex problems and issues. For example, in considering a complex issue such as global warming, one can take an economic, environmental, political or ethical perspective on the problem. While an economist might examine the costs and benefits of various policies related to global warming, an environmental ethicist might examine the ethical values and principles involved.
Many different disciplines, institutions, and professions have standards of conduct that correspond to their particular goals. These standards also help members of the discipline coordinate their actions or activities and establish public confidence in the discipline. For example, ethical standards govern behavior in medicine, law, engineering, and business. Ethical norms also serve the purposes of research and apply to people who conduct scientific research or other scientific or creative activities. There is even a specialized discipline, research ethics, that studies these norms. See Glossary of Frequently Used Terms in Research Ethics.
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There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical standards in research. First, norms promote research goals, such as knowledge, truth, and error avoidance. For example, prohibitions against fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data promote truth and minimize error.
Second, because research often involves a great deal of collaboration and coordination among many different people in different disciplines and institutions, ethical standards promote values essential to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect, and honesty. For example, many ethical norms in research, such as authorship guidelines, copyright and patent policies, data sharing policies, and confidentiality rules in peer review, are designed to protect intellectual property interests while encouraging collaboration. Most researchers want to be recognized for their contributions and don’t want their ideas stolen or revealed prematurely.
Third, many ethical norms help ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the public. For example, federal policies on research misconduct, conflicts of interest, protection of human subjects, care and use of animals are necessary to ensure that publicly funded researchers can be held accountable to the public.
Fourth, ethical norms in research also help build public support for research. People are more likely to fund a research project if they can trust the quality and integrity of the research.
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Finally, many research norms promote a number of other important moral and social values, such as social responsibility, human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the law, and public health and safety. Ethical lapses in research can significantly harm humans and animals, students and the public. For example, a researcher who fabricates data in a clinical trial can harm or even kill patients, and a researcher who does not follow regulations and guidelines related to radiation or biosafety can endanger their own health and safety or the health and safety of staff and students.
Given the importance of ethics to the conduct of research, it should come as no surprise that many different professional associations, government agencies, and universities have adopted specific codes, rules, and policies regarding research ethics. Many government agencies have ethical rules for funded researchers.
Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Be honest about the data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify or misrepresent information. Do not deceive colleagues, research sponsors or the public.
Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose any personal or financial interests that may influence the research.
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Avoid careless mistakes and negligence; carefully and critically examine your work and the work of your colleagues. Keep good records of research activities, such as data collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies or journals.
Take responsibility for your role in the research and be prepared to give an account (ie an explanation or justification) of what you did on the research project and why.
Respect patents, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data, methods or results without permission. Give appropriate recognition or acknowledgment for all research contributions. Never plagiarize.
Protect confidential communications, such as documents or grants submitted for publication, personal files, trade or military secrets, and patient records.
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Publish to advance research and scholarship, not just to advance your career. Avoid wasteful and duplicated posting.
Help educate, mentor and advise students. Promote their well-being and allow them to make their own decisions.
Avoid discriminating against colleagues or students based on gender, race, ethnicity, or other factors unrelated to scholarly competence and integrity.
Maintain and improve one’s own professional training and expertise through lifelong education and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a whole.
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Show appropriate respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct unnecessary or ill-conceived experiments on animals.
When conducting human research, minimize harms and risks and maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy and autonomy; take special precautions with vulnerable populations; and strive to fairly distribute the benefits and burdens of research.
* Adapted from Shamoo A and Resnik D. 2015. Responsible Research Conduct, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press).
Although codes, policies and principles are very important and useful, like any set of rules, they do not cover every situation, they are often in conflict and require significant interpretations. It is therefore important for researchers to learn how to interpret, evaluate and apply different research rules and how to make decisions and act ethically in different situations. The vast majority of decisions involve the direct application of ethical rules. For example, consider the following case,
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The research protocol for testing an antihypertensive drug calls for administration of the drug at various doses to 50 laboratory mice, along with chemical and behavioral tests to determine toxic effects. Tom has almost finished the experiment for Dr. Q. He only has 5 mice left to test. However, he really wants to finish his work in time to go to Florida for spring break with his friends, who are leaving tonight. He injected the drug into all 50 mice, but did not complete all the tests. So he decides to extrapolate the 45 completed results to produce 5 additional results.
Many different research ethics policies would consider Tom to have acted unethically by fabricating the data. If this study were sponsored by a federal agency, such as the NIH, its actions would constitute a form of research
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