Sample Papers

Question 1

a). Good ethics largely refers to the norms of good conduct that often distinguish between what the society considers to be acceptable or those that are not unacceptable behavior. The ethics that applied to my dissertation research stem from the need to protect the confidentiality and anonymity that i extended to the participants of my research project. I avoided deceptive practice and instead I allowed all the participants the right to withdraw at any time of the project provided they communicated in good time so as not to jeopardize my research work.  Where it was not possible to obtain informed consent in good time or it was not desirable to obtain consent then the data had to be disregarded and deleted from the research work. But the most critical factor is that   any risks of harm that any participant or stakeholder may have been exposed to was adequately minimized (Resnik, 2015).

b). Some societies have laws that govern behavior while ethics guide morals that are not punishable in courts as some actions may be unethical but are not illegal. For example everyone agrees that no one has a right to kill however disagreement may arise on certain aspects of abortion. My major concern about ethical misconduct is that they are associated with research misconduct like falsification, fabrication or plagiarism. Most actions that are largely classified as unethical are also regarded as misconduct (Resnik, 2015).

Many aspects of research work also promote other significant moral as well as social values that are part of social responsibility or even human rights but some researchers may overlook some of these factors. Lapses in ethical factors consideration may harm human or animals or even the public. For example, a researcher who has fabricated some information in clinical trials may end up killing patients simply because of not following guidelines or regulations of ethical guidelines (Resnik, 2015).