Introduction
Some people argue that to make important advances in clinical and scientific research, sometimes, ethical considerations have to be disregarded. In research, ethical issues are generally thought of as the set of rules that distinguish right from wrong. Ethics can take the form of a generalized rule of thumb, such as the “golden rule,” which says that you should not do to others what you would not like done to yourself; or, ethics can be codes of professional conduct, such as the Hippocratic Oath, which says “First of all, do no harm.” Researchers are usually legally bound to some ethical principles; for example, researchers conducting clinical trials on pharmaceutical drugs are required to make a full disclosure of the possible side effects of the drug to the study’s volunteers (Beecher, 1996).
Important to the concept of ethics in research, especially medicinal research, is the idea of informed consent. Informed consent is a process in which a researcher ensures that participants in clinical trials understand what will happen during the trial, including all of the risks (Diener & Crandall, 1978). Informed consent helps study subjects decide whether participation in clinical trials is right for them.
Informed consent must be obtained from the study participant before proceeding with the investigation. The American Psychiatric Association’s code of ethics establishes several rules for the obtainment of informed consent (Faden, Beauchamp, & King, 1986). For instance, a researcher cannot perform a psychological experiment on volunteers using deception, unless there is a valid reason to use deception, and the research cannot be successfully conducted without it. In addition, the risk of physical or emotional distress and discomfort must never be concealed. In a study on sleep deprivation in which participants are asked to stay awake for a long period of time, the participants must be informed of the physical risks, rather coerced into participation. Finally, if deception is used during the psychological experiment, it must be revealed to the test volunteers as soon as possible; for example, as soon as the experiment is concluded, volunteers should be informed of the deceptive practices used on them. These ideas have been around for decades, but they have only recently been applied in practice (Faden et al., 1986).
Though most societies chose to enforce moral and ethical standards through judicious application of the law, ethics and laws are distinct from each other. An action may be legal, but not ethical or moral; conversely, there are actions that may be illegal, but that are not necessarily immoral or unethical (Beecher, 1996). For example, it is not illegal for a man or woman to cheat on their spouse, but there are many who would consider cheating unethical. On the other hand, it may not be unethical for a doctor to prescribe a patient medication derived from cannabis to treat their psychological or physical pain; however, medical marijuana remains illegal in most states.
Ethical norms across different disciplines help individuals organize their activities in a coordinated manner and to promote public trust in the discipline. Ethics can also be thought of as a method or procedure that informs us how to act, providing a framework for analyzing social problems and issues (Diener & Crandall, 1978). For example, the problem of global warming can be considered from an environmental, political, economic, or ethical perspective. An economist might be concerned about the costs of reducing the impact of global warming versus the cost of allowing global warming to go unchecked. An environmental ethicist, on the other hand, might be chiefly concerned with the damage to the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that make up the diversity of life on our planet.
Ethical standards govern the conduct of research in medicine, engineering, law, and business. Ethical standards enhance and expedite the goals of research. For example, the ethical standards of almost any institution or organization condemn the act of plagiarizing the works of others. In both academic and professional contexts, plagiarism is thought to be highly unethical, and it is also often illegal. Plagiarism is bad for many reasons, and one of these reasons is that it hinders scientific ambition and progress. Plagiarism impedes collaborative learning, silences debate, and prevents ideas from moving forward (Beecher, 1996). Therefore, having a standard of ethics that denounces plagiarism and fraud helps propel the goals of research forward.
Another example that demonstrates how ethics supports the goals of research is seen in how ethical principles promote values of collaboration, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness. Research often requires the participation and cooperation of members across multiple disciplines, and ethical standards instruct the members of different groups on how to interact constructively with each other (Diener & Crandall, 1978).
Ethical standards not only protect the integrity of the research, they protect the people on whom the research is conducted. It prevents harm to those who volunteer their bodies and minds to the service of scientific advancement. By requiring informed consent to be given before proceeding with an experiment or survey, the volunteers are protected from coercion or deception.
A system of ethics is not only beneficial to the collection of data on scientific, clinical, and other types of research; it is imperative to its success. Research conducted without a mind to ethics will only be of questionable value. Therefore, ethical considerations should never be neglected when research is conducted.
