Ethical Standards in Research

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Concern for risks involved in the research and the participants involved in the study is a duty of the researcher (Lindorff, 2010). Topics that an ethical researcher should consider are “justice, beneficence and respect for persons” (Lindorff, 2010, p. 53). Justice refers to fairness in selection of participants and the time required by participants. Justice relates to protecting participants but also benefiting the public, not just certain entities. There are concerns regarding non-medical research and the benefactors from the results obtained. The parties involved in non-medical research need to be mindful of ethical considerations (Lindorff, 2010). Another vulnerable population is students. Higher education organizations need to be careful of teachers performing research and using students as the participants. The students may feel a need to participate to avoid negative consequences.

There are guidelines to follow when building an ethical research environment (Lategan, 2012). At a higher education institution, faculty members carry out their duties with integrity and ethical standards. Consideration is also given by faculty for the institution’s standards. Faculty members practice autonomy when given the opportunity to develop research in an ethical manner that adds to the body of knowledge (Lategan, 2012).

Beneficence refers to the benefits of a research outweighing the risks involved (Lindorff, 2010). Ethical acceptance is when the risk is minor but the benefits are great. Not only are the participants or the researcher considered, but other parties that may be indirectly involved should be considered as well. The third ethical concept is respect for persons (Lindorff, 2010). This concept requests for resp...

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