Ethics: Definition, moral philosophy,

nature of moral judgments and reactions

Prof. Dr. Rajiv Dutta, M.Tech (IIT-Kgp), Ph.D (BITS-Pilani)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, London, UK
Fellow of the American Academy of Science & Technology, Reston, USA

Dean-Academics Affairs & Dean, School of Biological Engineering & Life Sciences
Shobhit Deemed University, Meerut
“To be sure, it is impossible to prove the
rightness of any ethical principles, or even to
argue in its favour in just the manner in which
we argue in favour of a scientific statement.
Ethics is not a science. But although there is no
‘rational scientific basis’ of ethics, there is an
ethical basis of science and of rationalism”.

– Karl Popper
 Ethics
• Ethics: principles for guiding decision making
and reconciling conflicting values
• People may disagree on ‘ethics’ because it is
based:
• On people's personal value systems
• What one person considers to be good or
right may be considered bad or wrong by
another person
• According to Oxford Dictionary, Ethics
are moral principles that govern a
person's behavior or the conducting of
an activity.
• Research ethics is specifically
interested in the analysis of ethical
issues that are raised when people (or
even animals) are involved as
participants in research.
 Introduction to ethics in research
• You must accept the responsibility to behave
ethically toward those who will be affected by
your research
• Ethics is the study of proper action
• Research ethics concerns the responsibility of
researchers to be honest and respectful to all
individuals who may be affected by their
research studies or their reports of the studies’
results
 Why is Research Ethics Important?
• It is a reflection of respect for those who ‘take
part’ in research
• It ensures no unreasonable, unsafe or
thoughtless demands are made by researchers
• It ensures sufficient knowledge is shared by all
concerned
• It imposes a common standard in all the above
respects
 Ethical Principles Guiding Research
• Respect for human dignity
• Respect for free and informed consent
• Respect for vulnerable persons
• Respect for privacy and confidentiality
• Respect for justice and inclusiveness
• Balancing harms and benefit
• Minimizing harm
• Maximizing benefit
Approaches of Ethics in Research
 Ethical Issues Concerning Research
Participants
Collecting Information:

The researcher needs to make the participants

clear that the undertaken research is beneficial
for society and only relevant information would
be collected.
 Seeking Consent
Informed consent implies the subjects are made
adequately aware of the type of information
researcher want, why the information is being
sought, what purpose it will be put to, how they
are expected to participate in the study and how
it will directly or indirectly affect them.
 Ethical Issues Concerning Research
Participants
• Providing Incentives:
• It is unethical to provide any sort of
inducement or incentives to the
respondents for their participation.
• Participants should not take part in the
research, because of privileges, but
because of realizing the importance of the
study.
 Ethical Issues Concerning Research
Participants
• Seeking Sensitive Information:
• Some information may seem sensitive and
confidential to the participants such as questions
on sexual behavior, drug use etc.
• It is not unethical to ask such questions as long as
the research requires those information.
• The researcher should ask sensitive questions
frankly, clearly with a non judgmental approach
and give them sufficient time to decide whether
they want to participate or not.
 Ethical Issues Concerning Research
Participants
• Possibility of Causing Harm to the Respondents:
• The following phenomenon should be avoided
while gathering data from participants-
a) Hazardous medical experiment
b) Causing discomfort
c) Causing anxiety
d) Causing harassment
e) Invasion of privacy
f) Demeaning procedure
 Ethical Issues Concerning Research
Participants
• Maintaining Confidentiality:
a) Information should only be used in
research purposes.
b) Personal information of the participants
or information that can harm individuals
should remain confidential.
c) In such cases, the anonymity of
participants should be ensured by the
researcher.
 Ethical Issues for Researchers
• Researchers have to avoid bias. Means they
should not hide or misinterpret any outcome to
conclude a certain or pre-defined result.
• Researchers have to use the data in fruitful
researches. They should not overlook any
valuable data.
• Researchers should not use inappropriate
methodology such as biased sampling, using
invalid instrument, drawing wrong conclusion
etc.
 Ethical Issues for Funding Body
• The funding body should not select the
methodology, prohibit the publication or
impose restriction on the research.
• It is very unethical for the funding body to
misuse the data. Means it’s not ethical using
the data to prove or disprove certain agenda
or using the data in wrong extent.
 Treatment of Vulnerable groups
• Children legally and ethically
• Mentally or emotionally disabled people
• Severely ill or physically disabled people
• The terminally ill
• Institutionalized people
Stakeholders in a Research
 Plagiarism
• Comes from the Latin word meaning “to kidnap”
• Examples of plagiarism:
a) Copying someone else’s words without
proper citation
b) Stealing someone else’s ideas
c) Stealing someone else’s intellectual property
d) Bottom Line: Cite sources properly and
minimize quotations in research reports
 Philosophy
• Philosophy literally means love of wisdom, from the Greek
words
• philia meaning love or friendship and
• sophia meaning wisdom
• The following three areas of philosophy will be our major
concern: epistemology (the study of knowledge)
• Metaphysics (the study of the nature of reality)
• Ethics (the study of morality)
• Aesthetics (the study of values in art or beauty) and
• Logic (the study of argument and the principles of
correct reasoning)
 Philosophy and Research
• What is Philosophy?
• The study of the most general and abstract features of
the world and the categories with which we think. In
philosophy the concepts with which we approach the
world themselves become the topic of enquiry.
• Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of
reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical
reasoning rather than empirical methods (American
Heritage Dictionary)
• The study of the ultimate nature of existence, reality,
knowledge and goodness, as discoverable by human
reasoning (Penguin English Dictionary)
 Philosophy and Research
• What is Research
• “Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and
to think what nobody else has thought” (Blaikie, 2010)
• Research is going beyond personal experience,
thoughts, feelings and opinions
• Research is careful or diligent search about a
phenomena.
• Studious inquiry or examination; especially
:investigation or experimentation aimed at the
discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of
accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or
practical application of such new or revised theories or
laws
Understanding your research philosophy

• What you are doing when embarking on

research: developing knowledge in a
particular field
• System of beliefs and assumptions about
development of knowledge.
• Research philosophy is an over-arching term
relating to the development of knowledge and
the nature of that knowledge

(Saunders et al, 2009)

• At every stage in research we make a number of
types of assumption (Burrell and Morgan 1979).
• These include assumption about
• The realities encountered in research (Ontological
assumptions)
• Human knowledge (Epistemological assumptions),
• Assumptions about human Value (Axiological
assumption)
• These assumptions inevitably shape how you
understand your research questions, the methods
you use and how you interpret your findings
(Crotty, 1998).
• A well-thought-out and consistent set of
assumptions will constitute a credible research
philosophy
• This will
• Underpin your methodological choice,
research strategy and data collection
techniques and analysis procedures.
• Allow you to design a coherent research
project, in which all elements of research fit
together.
FOUR MAJOR ASPECTS OF PHILOSOPHY

• Positivism – the stance of the natural scientist

• Realism – direct and critical realism
• Interpretivism –researchers as ‘social actors’
• Pragmatism – studies judgments about value
Induction and Deduction
Research philosophy
• Relates to the development of knowledge and the
nature of that knowledge contains important
assumptions about the way in which we view the
world
Three major ways of thinking about
research philosophy:
• Epistemology-concerns assumptions about
knowledge
• Ontology – concerns researchers’ assumptions
about the nature of the world and reality
(objectivism and subjectivism)
• Axiology-refers to the role of values and ethics
within the research process
 Thinking about research philosophy
• There are two things that you can do to start
making a more active and informed
philosophical choice:
• Begin asking yourself questions about
your research beliefs and assumptions
• Familiarize yourself with major research
philosophies
Developing your research philosophy:
a reflexive process
Source: Alexandra Bristow and Mark Saunders 2015
 Further Readings

• ETHICS in Science Education, Research and

Governance
• Edited by Kambadur Muralidhar, Amit Ghosh,
Ashok Kumar Singhvi
• Multiple Authors
• Publisher: Indian National Science Academy,
New Delhi
 Important Chapter
from ETHICS in Science Education, Research and Governance

• Ethics in Research
• Authored by Prof. SC Lakhotia and Dr. Praveen
Chaddah
• Pp. 35-43
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):
Guidelines on Good Publication Practice
• (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guide
lines)
 •

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