LESSON 2: THE CHARACTERISTICS, PROCESSES, AND ETHICS OF RESEARCH 2

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH
Accuracy- It must give correct or accurate data,
which the footnotes, notes, and bibliographical Step 2: Identify a specific problem
entries should honestly and appropriately Find out what is the specific problem
documented or acknowledged. related to your specific topic.
Objectiveness- It must deal with facts, not with
mere opinions arising from assumptions, Step 3: Write down specific research questions
generalizations, predictions, or conclusions. Written in third person. About 3 to 5
Timeliness- It must work on a topic that is questions. Help to address the whole
fresh, new, and interesting to the present problem you to plan to explore.
society.
Step 4: Conduct the literature review
Relevance- Its topic must be instrumental in
improving society or in solving problems Read what other people have written
affecting the lives of people in a community. about your topic.
Clarity- It must succeed in expressing its
Step 5: Plan your research study.
central point or discoveries by using simple,
direct, concise, and correct language. Develop a complete plan of how you will
collect and analyze your data. Explain the
Systematic- It must take place in an organized
different steps that you will take and the
or orderly manner.
resources you will need to collect and
Empirical- It must be based on direct analyze your data.
experience or observation by the researcher.
Logical- It is based on valid procedures and Step 6: Implement your data.
principles. Get to go through all the steps that you
Analytical- It utilizes proven analytical planned to collect your data.
procedures in gathering the data, whether
Step 7: Analyze your data.
historical, descriptive, and experimental and
case study. Present the data that you found.
Replicability- The research design and Step 8: Interpret your data.
procedures are replicated or repeated to
enable researcher to arrive at valid and Try to address the research problem and
conclusive results. the research questions.
RESEARCH PROCESS Step 9: Draw the conclusion.
Step 1: Identify a research topic Synthesize the major lessons that you
learned and the solutions to the problem.
You must choose a topic that you are
Make recommendations of what people
interested in it must be related to you,
should start doing as a result of your
your school, your family, your community,
research study.
your organization, or your country.
Make sure that it is well organized, written in good
Step 10: Check the quality of your research.
English, and that it shows all characteristics of
research.
 LESSON 2: THE CHARACTERISTICS, PROCESSES, AND ETHICS OF RESEARCH
ETHICS IN RESEARCH
 Ethics- moral principles that govern a
person's behavior or the conducting of an
activity.
 All research must be ethical.
1) Informed Consent
 To protect the rights of the participants in
your study.
 Inform your participants about the
criteria set for choosing them as
informants and the schedule of one-on-
one interview at the convenient time
they are available.
 Participation to the study will be
completely voluntary.
2) Honesty
 Strive for honesty in all scientific
communications.
 Honestly report data, results, methods
and procedures, and publication status.
 Do not fabricate, falsify, or misinterpret
data.
 Do not deceive colleagues, granting
agencies, or the public.
3) Objectivity
 Strive to avoid bias in experimental
design, data analysis, data interpretation,
peer review, personnel decisions, grant
writing, expert testimony, and other
aspects of research where objectivity is
expected or required.
 Disclose personal or financial interests
that may affect research.
4) Integrity
 Keep your promises and agreements; act
with sincerity; strive for consistency of
thought and action.
5) Openness
 Share data, results, ideas, tools, and
resources. Be open to criticism and new
ideas.
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6) Carefulness
 Avoid careless errors and negligence;
carefully and critically examine your own
work and the work of your peers.
 Keep good records of research activities
such as data collection, research design,
and correspondence with agencies or
journals.
7) Respect for Intellectual Property
 Honor patents, copyrights, and other
forms of intellectual property.
 Do not use unpublished data, methods,
or results without permission.
 Give proper acknowledgement or credit
for all contributions to research.
 Never plagiarize.
8) Confidentiality
 Protect confidential communications such
as papers or grants submitted for
publication, personnel records, trade or
military secrets, and patient records.
9) Responsible Publication
 Publish in order to advance research and
scholarship, not to advance just your own
career.
 Avoid wasteful and duplicative
publication.
10) Legality
 Know and obey relevant laws and
institutional and government policies.
 LESSON 2: THE CHARACTERISTICS, PROCESSES, AND ETHICS OF RESEARCH
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
1) Human Rights
 They are moral principles or norms that
describe certain standards of human
behaviour and are regularly protected as
natural and legal rights.
 They constitute a set of rights and duties
necessary for the protection of human
dignity, inherent to all human beings.
2) Intellectual Property
 It protects creations of the mind, which
have both a moral and a commercial
value.
3) Copyright Infringement
 The use or production of copyright-
protected material without permission of
the copyright holder.
 The rights accorded to the copyright
holder, such as the exclusive use of a
work for a set period of time, are
breached by a third party.
Examples:
a) Downloading movies and music
without proper payment for use.
b) Recording movies in a theatre.
c) Using others’ photographs for a blog
without permission.
d) Copying software code without giving
proper credit.
e) Creating videos with unlicensed music
clips.
4) Voluntary Participation
 People must not be coerced into
participating in research process.
 Prospective research participants must be
informed about the procedures and risks
involved in research and must give their
consent to participate.
5) Anonymity
 It is the protection of people’s identity
through not disclosing their name or not
exposing their identity.
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6) Privacy
 It is someone’s right to keep his personal
matters and relationships secret.
 It is the ability of an individual to seclude
him from disturbance of any research
activity.
ETHICAL STANDARDS IN RESEARCH WRITING
 Research Misconduct includes
fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.
 It doesn’t include honest error of
differences of opinion.
 It can erode trust between researchers
and funding agencies, which make it
more difficult for colleagues at the same
institution to receive grants.
PLAGIARISM
 Plagiarism refers to the act of using
another person’s ideas, works, processes,
and results without giving due credit.
 It should not be tolerated as the
unauthorized use of original works, a
violation of intellectual property rights.
Three different acts are considered
plagiarism:
1. Failure to cite quotations and borrowed
ideas,
2. Failure to enclose borrowed language
in quotation marks, and
3. Failure to put summaries and
paraphrases in your own words.