Research ethics

Research ethics involves the application of fundamental ethical principles to a variety of topics involving research, including scientific research. These include the design and implementation of research involving human experimentation, animal experimentation, various aspects of academic scandal, including scientific misconduct (such as fraud, fabrication of data and plagiarism), whistleblowing; regulation of research, etc. Research ethics is most developed as a concept in medical research. The key agreement here is the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. The Nuremberg Code is a former agreement, but with many still important notes. Research in the social sciences presents a different set of issues than those in medical research.

The academic research enterprise is built on a foundation of trust. Researchers trust that the results reported by others are sound. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest attempt by scientists and other researchers to describe the world accurately and without bias. But this trust will endure only if the scientific community devotes itself to exemplifying and transmitting the values associated with ethical research conduct.

here are many ethical issues to be taken into serious consideration for research. Sociologists need to be aware of having the responsibility to secure the actual permission and interests of all those involved in the study. They should not misuse any of the information discovered, and there should be a certain moral responsibility maintained towards the participants. There is a duty to protect the rights of people in the study as well as their privacy and sensitivity. The confidentiality of those involved in the observation must be carried out, keeping their anonymity and privacy secure. As pointed out in the BSA for Sociology, all of these ethics must be honoured unless there are other overriding reasons to do so - for example, any illegal or terrorist activity.

esearch ethics is different throughout different types of educational communities. Every community has its own set of morals. In Anthropology  research ethics were formed to protect those who are being researched and to protect the researcher from topics or events that may be unsafe or may make either party feel uncomfortable. It is a widely observed guideline that Anthropologists use especially when doing ethnographic fieldwork.

3. ENGINEERING AS EXPERIMENTATION

·      Experimentation (Preliminary tests or Simulations) plays a vital role in the design of a product or process.

·      In all stages of converting a new engineering concept into a design like,     first rough cut design,     usage of different types of materials and processes,        detailed design,    further stages of work design and        the finished product,

Experiments and tests are conducted to evaluate the product. Modifications are made based on the outcome of these experiments.

·      The normal design process is thus iterative (modifications being made on the basis of feedback information acquired from the tests).

Even though various tests and experiments are conducted at various stages, the engineering project as a whole in its totality can be viewed as an experiment.