•Arrive on time and make sure to Check-In ()
•Turn your Phone/Devices to silent mode
Ground •Don’t eat and make a mess in the class
•Do not leave class early and consult with your tutor
Rules •Ask for clarification if you are not sure about anything
•Do not talk to each other while we are teaching
•Participate in-class activity (Vevox)
•If you have any suggestions, please share them with us at the
end
Session 2- Ethics
Research Methods
Dr Farid Ullah
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Prof Richard Nyuur
[email protected] Abdul Muqeem
[email protected]
Session Plan
Power point Introduction to
slides ethics-related Q&A
presentation Document
Learning Outcomes
Define Define what we mean by ethics
Explain why ethics are now so important to organizations and
Explain
individuals undertaking research
Describe why adopting an ethical approach to research is
Describe
important
Describe how ethical principles are of benefit to sound research
Describe
design
Apply an ethical framework to your own research design and
Apply
practice. (Ethics form, PID)
What do we
mean by ‘Ethics’
• The moral principles guiding research
(Economic and Social Research Council,
ESRC, 2022);
• Sets of moral principles or norms that are
used to guide moral choices of behaviour
and relationships with others (Blumberg
et al., 2005);
For example (Doctors are ethically bound to
keep the confidentiality of their patients:
the so-called ‘duty of confidence’)
Summary of Nuremberg Code
• A set of ethical guidelines for conducting research
on human subjects, established after the atrocities
committed by Nazi doctors in concentration camps
during WWII. The code was drafted in 1947 and has
since become a foundation document in the field of
research.
Summary of Nuremberg Code
• Voluntary consent of the human subject is essential
• Experiment should yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and
not random and unnecessary in nature
• Experiment should be so designed on a knowledge of the problem under study that the anticipated results will justify
the performance of the experiment.
• Experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury
• No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will
occur
• The degree of risk should never exceed the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment
• Adequate facilities should be provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury,
disability, or death
• The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons
• The human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he/she has reached the physical or mental
state where continuation seems to him/her to be impossible
• The researcher must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he/she has probable cause to believe,
that a continuation is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject
Typical research involving ethical
risk
• Vulnerable groups – such as children and young people, those with learning
disabilities or special needs
• Sensitive topics – for example, sexual or illegal activities, or people’s
experience of abuse or violence
• Subjects can only be accessed via a gatekeeper – for example, some ethnic
or cultural groups
• Element of deception such as secret observation used without a
participant’s full or informed consent
• Access to confidential records or information
• Activities leading to stress, anxiety or humiliation amongst target groups
A student wants to do a survey of her fellow
students asking them about their experiences of
harassment and bullying in the workplace.
Is there an ethical
issue here?
A student wants to do a survey of her fellow
students asking them about their experiences of
harassment and bullying in the workplace.
Is there an ethical
issue here? p i c
to
ve
s iti
Se n
A student wants to interview people working in
the care sector about their experience of ‘modern
slavery’.
Is there an ethical
issue here?
A student wants to interview people working in
the care sector about their experience of ‘modern
slavery’.
Is there an ethical p
issue here? ro u
e g l
ra b
l n e
Vu
A student is researching customers’ perception of the quality of
service at Costa Coffee. She goes to a branch of Costa Coffee and
chats with customers about their experience, recording the
conversation.
Is there an ethical
issue here?
A student is researching customers’ perception of the quality of
service at Costa Coffee. She goes to a branch of Costa Coffee and
chats with customers about their experience, recording the
conversation.
Is there an ethical
issue here?
on ti
ce p
De
A student uses a secondary dataset to identify a
firm and its turnover and then states the name of
the firm and its sales turnover in the dissertation.
Is there an ethical
issue here?
A student uses a secondary dataset to identify a
firm and its turnover and then states the name of
the firm and its sales turnover in the dissertation.
Is there an ethical t y
issue here? a l i
nti e
fi d
o n
C
General Very detailed regulation
Data regarding what you can and
cannot do with people’s
Protection data:
Regulatio UK GDPR guidance and resources | I
CO
n (GDPR)
Ethical principles fall into four main
areas, namely, the need to:
1. Avoid harm to participants
Ethical 2. Ensure informed consent of
Principles participants
3. Respect the privacy of
participants (e.g., anonymity)
4. Avoid deception
Research will be considered harmful if
it causes a participant to be
• Embarrassed
Avoiding • Ridiculed
Harm to • Belittled or generally subject to
mental distress
Participan • Anxious
ts • Stressed
• Subject to negative emotional
reactions
Researcher should provide information on:
• The aims of the research.
• Who will be undertaking it.
• Who is being asked to participate.
• What kind of information is being sought.
Informed • How much of the participant’s time is required
• That participation in the study is voluntary.
Consent • That responding to all questions is voluntary.
• Who will have access to the data once it is
collected.
• How anonymity of respondents will be
preserved.
• Who should it be returned to and by when
• Respondents must give informed
consent
• Respondents have the right to
withdraw at any time
Respectin • Data (in electronic and manual
g Privacy forms) must be kept securely
• Might be best for it to be
anonymised.
Best achieved by being open and
transparent about the research
including:
Avoiding • Its objectives
Deception • Methods
• Uses
• Role of respondent, including time
and any other commitments
Importance of Ethical Approval
• Ethical approval must be completed BEFORE
commencing your research.
• DO NOT start your research until ethical
approval is received from your supervisor.
Our experience from previous
cohorts
• Ethics form not completed on time
• Research methodology change without consulting the allocated
supervisor & redoing Research Ethics form
• Confusions about Secondary Data Vs Primary data
• Submission of Research Ethics form without PID
• Submission of dissertation without ethical approval
• This could lead you to fail your Dissertation!
Ethics Form Approval Process
Complete the ethics form
(MSc, MBA ONLY) available If primary data complete Send the completed form(s)
If secondary data (only
on the BU7002 portal page (PID and approval letter to your allocated supervisor
Online Ethics Form)
under the ethics tile from the organisation) (Primary Research only)
( Section A only)
The allocated supervisor You will receive an email
from your supervisor The ethics committee will
Your allocated supervisor will submit your ethics
send the final approval
will check and reply Form (Only Primary (Peer-Review) if after a full review.
research) approved/Referred
• For research projects to be conducted
outside of England (e.g., where the
participants are located in another
Research country) the process is somewhat more
complicated;
outside of • You will need to get a letter from an
academic who works in a university in
England the country in which the research is to be
conducted;
• The letter must state that the research
project complies with the ethics and
regulations in that country;
• This is because rules and laws differ by
country.
Ethics Form
Secondary Research Ethics Form
to be completed Online
Primary Research Ethics Form to
be completed manually and send
to the allocated supervisor via
email
Personal Information Document
(PID) Example
All Ethics Related Document
• https://portal1.chester.ac.uk/FacultyofBusinessandManagement/P
ages/Templates-and-Resources.aspx
• https://portal1.chester.ac.uk/FacultyofBusinessandManagement/P
ages/Templates-and-Resources.aspx
• Research Outside England Instructions link.docx
• Research Outside of England Sample Letter Contents.docx
For all other Ethics-related documents, follow the link below.
https://portal1.chester.ac.uk/FacultyofBusinessandManagement/
Pages/Templates-and-Resources.aspx
• Research ethics refers to the moral principles guiding
research, conducting research in a responsible and
morally defensible way
• Any research involving the study of human populations
Summary can involve ethical considerations but particularly
research that deals with vulnerable groups, and/or
involves sensitive topics that could cause distress or
anxiety or involves any element of deception
• Central to the principles of research are that it should:
avoid harm to participants, ensure informed consent,
respect the privacy of participants and avoid deception
Any
Questio
n
• Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business
Reference
students. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education (Chapter 6)
• Gray, D. (2020) Doing Research in the Business World, SAGE (Chapter 4
