Ethical challenges in research
Pmcid: pmc4263394ethical challenges of researchers in qualitative studies: the necessity to develop a specific guidelinemahnaz sanjari,1 fatemeh bahramnezhad,1 fatemeh khoshnava fomani,1 mahnaz shoghi,2 and mohammad ali cheraghi31nursing phd candidate, school of nursing and midwifery, tehran university of medical sciences, tehran, iran2assistant professor, school of nursing and midwifery, iran university of medical sciences, tehran, iran3associate professor, school of nursing and midwifery, tehran university of medical sciences, tehran, ponding author: mohammad ali cheraghi, address: school of nursing and midwifery, tehran university of medical sciences, tehran, iran. Which allows users to read, copy, distribute and make derivative works for non-commercial purposes from the material, as long as the author of the original work is cited article has been cited by other articles in ctconsidering the nature of qualitative studies, the interaction between researchers and participants can be ethically challenging for the former, as they are personally involved in different stages of the study. The present paper aimed to discuss the necessity to develop explicit guidelines for conducting qualitative studies with regard to the researchers’ role. For this purpose, a literature review was carried out in domestic and international databases by related care providers who carry out qualitative research have an immense responsibility. As there is no statistical analysis in qualitative studies, the researcher has to both evaluate what he or she observes and to interpret it. Providing researchers with the necessary skills and applying stringent supervision can lead to better extraction of reliable information from qualitative studies. This article presents a debate in order to illustrate how researchers could cover the ethical challenges of qualitative studies and provide applicable and trustworthy chers face ethical challenges in all stages of the study, from designing to reporting. These include anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, researchers’ potential impact on the participants and vice versa. It seems of paramount importance that health care providers, educators and clinicians be well informed of all the different aspects of their roles when acting as qualitative researchers. Hence, these adroit roles need to be well defined, and the use of practical guidelines and protocols in all stages of qualitative studies should be ds: qualitative research, ethical challenges, researcher’s role, guidelineintroductionin the recent millennium, the constant trend of change in the demands of the community as well as transforming the trend of knowledge production has highlighted the necessity for researchers to adopt a more comprehensive approach. Increasingly, many academic disciplines are utilizing qualitative research (qr) as the qualitative method investigating the why and how of the process of a developed concept (1, 2). Qualitative research is sometimes defined as interpretive research, and as interpretations can be incorrect or biased, the findings may be controversial (3). However, qualitative research is not only useful as the first stage of quantitative research, but can also play a key role in ‘validating’ it or in providing a different viewpoint on the same social phenomena (4). Given that the researcher is considered to be the research instrument, and the plan of inquiry needs to be developed and altered as the study progresses, a qualitative researcher cannot depend upon traditional approaches to address certain concerns such as bias and credibility.
Therefore, learning from a series of mistakes is often considered an integral part of qualitative research (5, 6). This study, a literature review was carried out in international electronic databases including pubmed, web of sciences, cumulative index to nursing and allied health literature (cinahl), scopus, ebsco, embase and science direct without any time limitation, using the search terms “qualitative research”, “researchers’ role”, “ethical challenges” and “ethical guidelines”. These keywords were also searched on national electronic databases including scientific information database (sid), iran medex and medical articles library (medlib) using the same s of the present article endeavor to shine a light on the ethical issues affecting researchers and propose strategies to face the ethical challenges of qualitative studies, so as to provide applicable and trustworthy outcomes. This could be the basis for the formulation of specific ethical guidelines in this overview on qualitative research in health careup to the 1970s, qualitative research was solely employed by anthropologists and sociologists. Research has been conducted in the field of nursing in order to identify, describe and explain related concepts, experiences and phenomena and to develop the nursing knowledge. Since 1970, qualitative research has been performed to achieve the concepts of patient care and other main perceptions in the nursing profession. Of researchers in qualitative studiesin the case of nurses who perform qualitative research, ethical issues are raised when the nurse-patient relationship in the research area leads to some degree of therapeutic communication for the participants (9). Thus, nurse researchers must be aware of the impact of the questioning on the participants, and in order to decrease such harmful effects on human subjects, the “reflexive approach” is recommended (10). In the qr procedure the researcher is involved in all stages of the study from defining a concept to design, interview, transcription, analysis, verification and reporting the concepts and themes. Therefore, whenever instruments are involved in qualitative research, a human being will be an integral part of the process (12). Is argued that humans have increasingly become the “instrument of choice” for naturalistic research due to certain characteristics: they are highly responsive to environmental stimuli, have the ability to interact with the situation, pull together different pieces of information at multiple levels simultaneously, and perceive situations holistically; moreover, they are able to process findings the instant they become available, can present immediate feedback, and feel unusual responses. Nevertheless, researchers need to improve the abilities that make them appropriate human instruments and consequently, their interpersonal skills are of major importance in natural settings and study processes (table 1) (13, 14). 1researcher’s role in qualitative methods at a glanceethical challenges in qualitative studies:the researcher-participant relationshipthe relationship and intimacy that is established between the researchers and participants in qualitative studies can raise a range of different ethical concerns, and qualitative researchers face dilemmas such as respect for privacy, establishment of honest and open interactions, and avoiding misrepresentations (19). Ethically challenging situations may emerge if researchers have to deal with contradicting issues and choose between different methodological strategies in conflict arises.
- harvard business review strategic planning
- harvard business review strategic planning
- what is a hypothesis in science
In such cases, disagreements among different components such as participants, researchers, researchers’ discipline, the funding body and the society may be inevitable (20, 21). Some important ethical concerns that should be taken into account while carrying out qualitative research are: anonymity, confidentiality and informed consent (22). To richards and schwartz’ findings (22), the term ‘confidentiality’ conveys different meanings for health care practitioners and researchers. For researchers, however, the duty of confidentiality is less clear and involves elaboration of the form of outcome that might be expected from the study (22, 23). Researcher must endeavor to minimize the possibility of intrusion into the autonomy of study participants by all means. It is sometimes even necessary that the researcher clarify in writing which persons can have access to the initial data and how the data might be used (24, 25). Consent has been recognized as an integral part of ethics in research carried out in different fields. For qualitative researchers, it is of the utmost importance to specify in advance which data will be collected and how they are to be used (26). The principle of informed consent stresses the researcher’s responsibility to completely inform participants of different aspects of the research in comprehensible language. Clarifications need to include the following issues: the nature of the study, the participants’ potential role, the identity of the researcher and the financing body, the objective of the research, and how the results will be published and used (27). Many people consider it necessary to participate in research that their peers, community and/or society may benefit from. Therefore, qualitative health researchers need to clarify that the research they carry out will benefit science and can contribute to the improvement of health policy (5). The principle of ‘no harm’ to participants ought to be considered by researchers, who should be aware of the potential harms that might be inflicted upon study subjects. Researchers have the responsibility of protecting all participants in a study from potentially harmful consequences that might affect them as a result of their participation.
It is getting increasingly common for research ethics committees to seek documented proof of consent in a written, signed, and ideally, witnessed form. Researchers can only do their best to protect their respondent’s identity and hold the information strictly confidential as there would be no guarantee for it otherwise (29). Therefore, researchers should seriously consider the potential impact they may have on the participants and vice versa, and details of such interactions should be clearly mentioned in research proposals (23). Overall, the role of the researcher as (a) stranger, (b) visitor, (c) initiator, (d) insider-expert or other should be well defined and explained (3). As brenner quoted kvale state that, preparing an ethical protocol can cover issues in a qualitative research project from planning through reporting (30). Gathering and data analysisin qualitative research, data are collected with a focus on multifaceted interviews and narratives to produce a description of the experiences. The researchers, therefore, play the role of a mediator between the experiences of the respondents and the community of concerned people (28, 31). The post-interview comment sheet could assist the researcher to note the feelings of informants, as well as interpretations and comments that occurred during the interview (32). In health care research, the problem may be even more exaggerated as the researcher is sometimes the health provider as well (33). When a researcher aims to study the culture of certain people, living amongst them is inevitable. This method of collecting data is a subject of debate from an ethical point of view. Physical presence of the researchers within the culture requires them to be responsible for their role and potential consequences on the field. Researchers can benefit from supervision sessions directed at learning, mentoring and skill development, all of which can foster their ability to carry out research without risking their health. Adequate professional supervision (which may be outside of the university) can be of service to researchers in dealing with the potential stress associated with the study (35 – 37).
Interviewers should be properly scheduled to provide the researcher with sufficient recovery time and reduce the risk of emotional exhaustion, while allowing ample time for analysis of the objective and emotional aspects of the research. It is also necessary for the researcher to be familiar with signs of extreme fatigue and be prepared to take necessary measures before too much harm is done (40 – 42). It is argued that qualitative research that deals with sensitive topics in depth can pose emotional and other risks to both participants and researchers. Clear protocols for dealing with distress should be in place so that both parties involved in research can use them if necessary. It is not usually easy to predict what topics are likely to lead to distress, and researchers should therefore receive sufficient training in predicting traumatic tive measures for researchers who carry out sensitive qualitative studies should include official arrangements for a peer support program consisting of a list of researchers who are involved, or a constellation of researcher support activities aiming at improving psychological fitness in the form of a professional confidence building module. Other such measures include offering adequate supervision to provide opportunities for self-development and self-care, and facilitating the process of self-reflection and gies for emotional distancing need to be considered and adopted if the research topic or participants have the potential to be emotionally challenging. Measures must also be taken so that levels of self-disclosure, objective displays of emotion during the interviews, and strategies to end the relationships are well defined and of the most prominent tasks of qualitative researchers is to minimize the flaws in observation and endeavor to gain truthful knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary for researchers to continuously update their investigation skills in terms of methodology and find novel techniques to better carry out studies in the field of health and explained before, qualitative research is carried out in natural settings, which requires researchers to work in close collaboration with other members of the team and under direct supervision to discuss and resolve issues as they arise. Therefore, development of practical strategies and communicating them to researchers can be of great benefit and assist them in conducting more perceptive qualitative studies. It is noteworthy that such research should be directed towards making a difference in people’s lives, improving care delivery in different settings and at all levels, and providing a framework for health sciences without any ethical a result of the extensive body of research in the field of medical sciences, patients comprise a large proportion of the public who are frequently subjects of studies. Research ethics committees are formed to provide independent advice to participants, researchers, funders/sponsors and healthcare organizations on the extent to which research proposals comply with universally endorsed ethical the history of social and medical science, there have been a few research studies that seriously injured people, and many more in which their welfare was not sufficiently protected. To return to the matter of privacy, the researcher should not rely solely on the informant to identify possible intrusion, but needs to work at anticipating it in advance. Investigators should refrain from soliciting private information that is not closely related to the research ering the aforementioned challenges, it is recommended to conduct further research in order to provide meticulous and explicit ethical protocols, guidelines and codes with respect to qualitative ledgmentsthe authors would like to offer special thanks to dr. The role of the researcher in the qualitative research process: a potential barrier to archiving qualitative data.
Conflicting notions of research ethics: the mutually challenging traditions of social scientists and medical researchers. Research on difficult family topics: helping new and experienced researchers cope with research on loss. Being in, being out, being with: affect and the role of the qualitative researcher in loss and grief research. 1999;4(2):167–es from journal of medical ethics and history of medicine are provided here courtesy of tehran university of medical s:article | pubreader | epub (beta) | pdf (88k) | might be the ethical issues and risks that arise in my research? University of are some examples of what might be an ethical issue or risk in research. This is not an exhaustive list – you may identify other issues in your own research project. Are my own students or ipants are an over-researched ipants do not understand english / might not adequately understand verbal explanations or written information / have low functional s around is a conflict of interest for the s around recruitment of ipants may be approached in a public ipation is not voluntary, or there is coercion or incentive to cher or faculty / department / university has a financial interest in the participant may not be able to withdraw from the ion is nature of the ipants may disclose that they have broken the or hazards to participants or al or mental risk or or pain / distress / discomfort to the participant or of samples e. Back to guidance on ethical approval for research main are going through a time of profound change in our understanding of the ethics d social research. There was a gradually developing consensus about the key ethical principles underlie the research endeavor. Cancer patients and persons fought publicly with the medical research establishment about the long time needed approval for and complete research into potential cures for fatal diseases. But now, those who were threatened illness were saying to the research establishment that they wanted to be ts, even under experimental conditions of considerable risk. You had several and articulate patient groups who wanted to be experimented on coming up against l review system that was designed to protect them from being experimented gh the last few years in the ethics of research have been tumultuous ones, it ing to appear that a new consensus is evolving that involves the stakeholder affected by a problem participating more actively in the formulation of research. Allowing anyone who is willing to be are a number of key phrases that describe the system of ethical protections contemporary social and medical research establishment have created to try to the rights of their research participants. The principle of ipation requires that people not be coerced into participating in is especially relevant where researchers had previously relied on 'captive audiences'.
Closely related to of voluntary participation is the requirement of informed ially, this means that prospective research participants must be fully the procedures and risks involved in research and must give their consent ipate. Ethical standards also require that researchers not put participants in ion where they might be at risk of harm as a result of ipation. There are rds that are applied in order to help protect the privacy of research all research guarantees the participants confidentiality -- they d that identifying information will not be made available to anyone who is ly involved in the study. Increasingly, researchers have had to deal with the ethical issue of 's right to service. But when that treatment or program may cial effects, persons assigned to the no-treatment control may feel their rights access to services are being when clear ethical standards and principles exist, there will be times when to do accurate research runs up against the rights of potential participants. Furthermore, there be a procedure that assures that researchers will consider all relevant ethical formulating research plans. To address such needs most institutions and formulated an institutional review board (irb), a panel of persons s grant proposals with respect to ethical implications and decides onal actions need to be taken to assure the safety and rights of participants. Ing proposals for research, irbs also help to protect both the organization and cher against potential legal implications of neglecting to address important of ght 2006, william m. Trochim, all rights se a printed copy of the research methods revised: 10/20/ble of contentsnavigatingfoundationslanguage of researchphilosophy of researchethics in researchconceptualizingevaluation re skillsyouneed:A - z list of learning skills. Types of learning tanding your preferences to aid al thinking al thinking and fake g a dissertation or to write a research l issues in tation: the ching and writing a literature g your tation: results and tation: conclusions and g your dissertation or thesis of the skills you need guide for ng, coaching, mentoring and ability skills for ibe to our free newsletter and start improving your life in just 5 minutes a 'll get our 5 free 'one minute life skills' and our weekly 'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any l issues in also: writing a research are broadly the set of rules, written and unwritten, that govern our expectations of our own and others’ behaviour. While there is broad agreement on some ethical values (for example, that murder is bad), there is also wide variation on how exactly these values should be interpreted in ch ethics are the set of ethics that govern how scientific and other research is performed at research institutions such as universities, and how it is page explains more about research ethics, and how you can ensure that your research is are research ethics? Most people think of research ethics, they think about issues that arise when research involves human or animal these issues are indeed a key part of research ethics, there are also wider issues about standards of conduct. These include the importance of publishing findings in a transparent way, not plagiarising others’ work, and not falsifying importance of research ch ethics are important for a number of promote the aims of research, such as expanding support the values required for collaborative work, such as mutual respect and fairness. This is essential because scientific research depends on collaboration between researchers and mean that researchers can be held accountable for their actions.
Many researchers are supported by public money, and regulations on conflicts of interest, misconduct, and research involving humans or animals are necessary to ensure that money is spent ensure that the public can trust research. For people to support and fund research, they have to be confident in support important social and moral values, such as the principle of doing no harm to : resnick, d. Agencies who fund or commission research often publish codes of conduct for researchers, or codes of example, the us national institutes of health (nih) and food and drug administration (fda) both publish ethical codes. Some ethical codes may have the force of law behind them, while others may simply be aware that even if you do nothing illegal, doing something unethical may end your research or even most ethical codes cover the following areas:Honesty and means that you need to report your research honestly, and that this applies to your methods (what you did), your data, your results, and whether you have previously published any of it. It is better to undersell than over-exaggerate your working with others, you should always keep to any agreements, and act should aim to avoid bias in any aspect of your research, including design, data analysis, interpretation, and peer review. For example, you should never recommend as a peer reviewer someone you know, or who you have worked with, and you should try to ensure that no groups are inadvertently excluded from your research. This also means that you need to disclose any personal or financial interests that may affect your care in carrying out your research to avoid careless mistakes. Obviously, you need to respect copyrights and patents, together with other forms of intellectual property, and always acknowledge contributions to your research. You should also follow guidelines on protection of sensitive information such as patient sible should publish to advance to state of research and knowledge, and not just to advance your career. This means, in essence, that you should not publish anything that is not new, or that duplicates someone else’s should always be aware of laws and regulations that govern your work, and be sure that you conform to you are using animals in your research, you should always be sure that your experiments are both necessary and well-designed. You should also show respect for the animals you are using, and make sure that they are properly cared subjects your research involves people, you should make sure that you reduce any possible harm to the minimum, and maximise the benefits both to participants and other means, for example, that you should not expose people to more tests than are strictly necessary to fulfil your research aims. This is required to scrutinise all research proposals, to ensure that they do not raise any ethical issues. This will generally include research for master’s and undergraduate degrees, although undergraduate research may be covered by a broader research proposal from your is likely to be a standard form to complete for ethical approval, which will cover who will be involved, how you will recruit your participants, and what steps you will take to ensure that they have provided informed is an example form on our page writing a research proposal, which also contains more detail about how to go about preparing a ethics committee’s role is to consider that what you are doing is appropriate and proportionate to your research a research proposal raises ethical issues, the committee will ask the researcher to look again at the issue, and consider whether they could do it example, if you are proposing to carry out a study on a particular disease, and you want to ask all your participants whether they are married and have any children, the committee may want to know why this is relevant. It may be relevant (for example, if you think the disease may be reduced by living in a family), in which case, you will need to justify committee may also suggest alternative methods that they think are more suitable for the target group, or additional precautions that you should cannot start your research until you have been granted ethical approval, which will be granted formally, together with an approval you publish your research, whether as a thesis or in one or more journal articles, you will need to provide details of the ethical approval, including this you are unsure how to behave in a particular situation….
And think you may have an ethical dilemma, then you should always seek advice before you you are a student, your supervisor should be happy to help and advise you. If necessary, they will be able to advise you about who else to a researcher, you should consult more senior colleagues around, either at your own institution or others, who should be happy to help all, it is in everyone’s interests to promote research ethics, and support the integrity and reputation of g a g a literature review | academic ng styles | sources of @skillsyouneed.