Ethics and My Research Question

While conducting research for educational purposes it is important to have the Informed consent of the participants and is a vital step to any research project. It is the process in which a student/participant consents to participate in a research project and is informed the reason for the study. (Bulger, 2002)[3]. There are many ethical issues that are entwined with the informed consent process. In order to fully appreciate the importance of this process, the history that led to its inclusion in research projects must be understood. There are many covert communication barriers between participants and researchers that lead to misunderstandings. This prevents participants from making the fully autonomous decisions sought for in the informed consent process. Some of those barriers are related to cultural aspects such as language differences and religious dogma. Others are related to the faith that participants have in science such as false expectations. Having awareness of these types of barriers is crucial for both researchers and participants. Misunderstandings concerning the experimental procedures can lead participants to get involved in research projects that they don't approve of. Finding themselves in this situation can have great effects on the psychological and physical well being of participants. For this reason, it is ethical for researchers to account and correct for the misunderstandings in the informed consent process. This would ensure that participants are treated according to the ethical standards set by the Belmont Report.

Reference

Bulger, R.E. (2002). Research with Human Beings. In Bulger, R.E., Heitman, I., & Reiser, J. (Ed.), The Ethical Dimensions of the Biological and Health Sciences (pp. 117-125). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Gay, L.R, Airasian, P. (2009). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and

applications (9th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.