Speaker 1: Research ethics is not a sexy topic, but let me tell you, it's an essential subject that you need to fully understand and apply to conquer your dissertation, thesis, or research paper. In this video, we'll unpack research ethics using plain language and loads of examples so that you can approach your project with confidence. Let's do it. Hey, my name's Emma, and today we're going to decrypt the somewhat prickly topic of research ethics. If you're currently working on a dissertation, thesis, or research paper, be sure to check out our collection of tried and tested free templates. You can find the link to those as well as loads of other free resources in the description. So let's start with the basics and ask the most important question. What exactly are research ethics? Well, at the simplest level, research ethics are a set of principles that ensure that your study is conducted responsibly, safely, and with integrity. More specifically, research ethics help protect the rights and welfare of your research participants while also ensuring the credibility of your research findings. Research ethics are critically important for a number of reasons. Firstly, they're a complete non-negotiable when it comes to getting your research proposal approved. Pretty much all universities will have a set of ethical criteria that student projects need to adhere to, and these are typically very strictly enforced. So if your proposed study doesn't tick the necessary ethical boxes, it will not be approved. Beyond the practical aspect of approval, research ethics are essential as they ensure that your study's participants, whether human or animal, are properly protected. In turn, this fosters trust between you and your participants, as well as trust between researchers and the public more generally. Last but not least, research ethics help ensure that your study's results are valid and reliable. In other words, that you measured the thing you intended to measure, and that other researchers can repeat your study. If you're not familiar with the concept of reliability and validity, we've got a straightforward explainer video covering that. Again, you can find the link in the description. As I mentioned earlier, research ethics are a set of principles that shape the execution of a study. Now, in practical terms, each university or institution will have its own ethics policy. So what exactly constitutes ethical research will vary somewhat between institutions and countries. Nevertheless, there are, generally speaking, a handful of core principles that shape ethics policies. These principles include respect for persons, beneficence, objectivity, and integrity. Let's unpack each of these to make them a little more tangible, starting with the most foundational principle, respect for persons. As the name suggests, this principle is all about ensuring that your participants are treated fairly and respectfully. In practical terms, this means informed consent. In other words, participants should be fully informed about the nature of the research, as well as any potential risks. Additionally, they should be able to withdraw from the study at any time. This is especially important when you're dealing with vulnerable populations, for example, children, the elderly, or people with cognitive disabilities. Another dimension of the respect for persons principle is confidentiality and data protection. In other words, your participants' personal information should be kept strictly confidential and secure at all times. Depending on the specifics of your project, this might also involve masking people's identities. As I mentioned earlier, the exact requirements will vary between universities, so be sure to thoroughly review your institution's ethics policy before you start designing your project. All right, the next principle you need to be aware of is beneficence. This principle is a little more opaque, but in simple terms, beneficence means that you, as the researcher, should aim to maximize the benefits of your work while minimizing any potential harm to your participants. In practical terms, benefits could include advancing knowledge, improving health outcomes, or providing educational value. Conversely, potential harms could include physical harm from accidents or injuries, psychological harm, such as stress or embarrassment, social harms, such as stigmatization or loss of reputation, and economic harm. In other words, financial costs or lost income. Simply put, the beneficence principle means that researchers must always try to identify potential risks and take suitable measures to reduce or eliminate them when carrying out a study. Okay, so let's move on to the third ethics principle, and that is objectivity. As you can probably guess, this principle is all about attempting to minimize research bias to the greatest degree possible. So in other words, you'll need to reduce subjectivity and increase objectivity wherever possible. In practical terms, this principle has the largest impact on the methodology of your study, specifically the data collection and data analysis aspects. For example, you'll need to ensure that the selection of your participants, in other words, your sampling strategy, is aligned with your research aims, and that your sample isn't skewed in a way that supports your presuppositions. Now, if you're not familiar with the concepts of sampling strategy and research bias, we've got detailed explainer videos covering those as well. As always, the links are down in the description. All right, last but certainly not least is the integrity principle. Again, no surprises here. This principle is all about producing honest work. It goes without saying that researchers should always conduct their work honestly and transparently, report their findings accurately, and disclose any potential conflicts of interest upfront. This is all pretty obvious, but another aspect of the integrity principle that's sometimes overlooked is respect for intellectual property. In practical terms, this means that you need to honor any patents, copyrights, or other forms of intellectual property that you utilize while undertaking your own research. Along the same vein, you shouldn't use any unpublished data, methods, or results without explicit written permission from the respective owner. Linked to all of this is the broader issue of plagiarism. Needless to say, if you're drawing on someone else's published work, be sure to cite your sources in the correct format. Use a reference manager, such as Mendeley or Zotero, to ensure that your citations and reference list are perfectly polished. Again, we've got straightforward tutorials covering both of those, and the links are in the description. All right, we've covered a lot of ground, so let's quickly recap. Research ethics are a set of principles that ensure that your study is conducted responsibly. It's essential that you design your study around these principles, or it simply won't get approved. The four ethics principles we looked at are respect for persons, beneficence, objectivity, and integrity. As mentioned, the exact requirements will vary slightly depending on the institution and country. So be sure to thoroughly review your university's research ethics policy before starting to develop your study. If you enjoyed this video, please hit the like and subscribe buttons to help other students discover this content. Now, if you're currently working on a dissertation, a thesis, or research paper, be sure to check out our collection of free templates using the link that's down in the description. And be sure to watch this video next, and I will see you there. ♪♪