Ethics in Data Collection

Participant observation is a qualitative method of data collection in research. It enables the researchers to fully participate in the the situation that they are studying. Thus researchers can become part of the life, event, or situation that they want to study. Researchers who want to dig deep into the life of the participant can get help from participant observation. …

Written by Saira Naeem When doing research you are going to hear the words data and data collection often enough, you are going to be asked what your data is? How you are going to gather the requisite data? What methods have you used to collect the data? What were your sources of data?  And so on. Therefore, instead of …

Bias in data collection can be introduced by the researcher or other people involved in the data collection process. This can occur during sampling or during the construction of the instrument, as well as during the submission and gathering of data. Data collection process is an important phase of research since all the data results, analysis, evaluations, and conclusions depend …

Every researcher has some interests that underlie the research. These interests can be personal, professional, or financial. Researcher’s personal interest sometimes come in conflict with professional interests. There should have to be a balance between these interests. The researcher has a commitment to the field of research, to other researchers (research community), and to the society. The researcher should know …

The correct treatment of data in research is important in maintaining the authenticity, reliability, and accuracy of the research. Inaccurate treatment of data can be done in many forms and in different intensity. A data that has been totally altered or produced without any real experiments is called a fraudulent data. Presenting fraudulent data in a research will not only …

In recent years what is responsible conduct of research and how it should be maintained is a question that has gained a lot of importance. A responsible conduct of research means an obligation that the researcher will abide by the rules, regulations and standards of responsible research criteria. UC Santa Barbara Office of Research defines responsible conduct of research as …

Laboratory safety in research is a concern for both the individuals involved in conducting the experiments as well as for the persons in-charge of the laboratory. The persons in-charge of the laboratory include laboratory supervisors, laboratory managers and other laboratory workers. There are government regulated regulations for laboratory safety. The researcher should be well aware of those rules and should …

Human participants in research can participate in many ways. They are the source of invaluable information that is otherwise impossible. The participation of human beings in research requires that the researcher protects the participants interest in every manner. There are legal, federal, and local regulations in relation to the participants safety and privacy when they participate in a research. In …

A research misconduct can be defined as proposing, presenting, or reviewing false information. This information can be fabricated, falsified, or plagiarized. The research misconduct can be done at any phase of the research and is very difficult to know. The three types of research misconduct can be as follows. Fabrication Fabrication is the invention of fake ideas that do not …

The ethical and legal issues in research are the most important considerations for every researcher. These issues should be considered on every step of the research: be it the problem formulation stage; data collection phase; or the data analysis and interpretation phase of the research. The researcher should take into account that none of the ethical and legal issues have …