Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities. This objective is usually achieved. However, unethical activities are pervasive and include violating nondisclosure agreements, breaking respondent confidentiality, misrepresenting results, deceiving people, invoicing irregularities, avoiding legal liability, and more.
As discussed earlier, ethical questions are philosophical questions. There is no general agreement among philosophers about the answers to such questions. However the rights and obligations of individuals are generally dictated by the norms of society. Societal norms are codes of behavior adopted by a group; they suggest what a member of a group ought to do under given circumstances. Nevertheless, with changing situations people continue differing with each other whereby societal norms may undergo changes. Codes and regulations guide researchers and sponsors. Review boards and peer groups help researchers examine their research proposals for ethical dilemmas. Responsible researchers anticipate ethical dilemmas and attempt to adjust the design, procedures, and protocols during the planning process rather than treating them as afterthought. Ethical research requires personal integrity from the researcher, the project manager, and the research sponsor.
General Rights and Obligations of Parties Concerned
In most research situations, three parties are involved: the researcher, the sponsoring client (user), and the respondent (subject). The interaction of each of these parties with one or both of the other two identifies a series of ethical questions. Consciously or consciously, each party expects certain rights and feels certain obligations towards the other parties.
Rights to Privacy
All individuals have right to privacy, and researchers must respect that right. The privacy guarantee is important not only to retain validity of the research but also to protect respondents. The confidentiality of the survey answers is an important aspect of the respondents’ right to privacy. Once the guarantee of confidentiality is given, protecting that confidentiality is essential. The researcher protects the confidentiality in several ways;
• Obtaining signed nondisclosure documents.
• Restricting access to respondent identification.
• Revealing respondent information only with written consent.
• Restricting access to data instruments where the respondent is identified.
• Nondisclosure of data subsets.
Privacy is more than confidentiality. A right to privacy means one has the right to refuse to be interviewed or to refuse to answer any question in an interview. Potential participants have a right to privacy in their own homes including not admitting researchers and not answering telephones. To address these rights, ethical researchers do the following:
• Inform respondents of their right to refuse to answer any questions or participate in the study.
• Obtain permission to interview respondents.
• Schedule field and phone interviews.
• Limit the time required for participation.
• Restrict observation to public behavior only.
The obligation to be truthful: When a subject willingly agrees to participate, it is generally expected that he or she will provide truthful answers. Honest cooperation is main obligation of the respondent or the subject.
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