INTRODUCTION TO ERROR ANALYSIS, ETHICS AND

PROFESSIONALISM IN SCIENTIFIC PRACTICES

OBJECTIVE

To give the student an insight into the significance of data analysis, ethics and
professionalism in scientific practices. The process of interpreting a particular
set of data requires careful determination on what analysis to include. Also, the
importance of having ethical and professional science practitioner should be
aware for better future in science. This topic contains some principle of data
analysis techniques required, and several ethical and professional elements that
should be practised during the conduction of this laboratory course.

A. ETHICS IN SCIENCE
According to the Oxford Dictionary, ethics are the moral principles that control
or influence a person’s behaviour. Ethics enable human to distinguish between
acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Lack of ethics awareness in the
community causes many ethical disputes and issues. Each individual
recognizes several common ethics norms, however, the interpretation,
application and balance of the norms are different in light of their own values
and life experiences. An action may be legal but unethical or illegal but ethical.
Ethical norms serve the aims and goals of research and apply to those who
conduct the scientific research.

The importance of ethical norms adherence in science research:

i. Ethical norms in research promote the aims of research, such as
knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error.
ii. Ethical standards promote values that are essential for collaborative
work (Eg: trust, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness). Ethical
standards include the authorship, patenting policies, data sharing
policies and confidentiality rules in peer review. These standards helps
to protect the intellectual property at the same time encouraging
 collaboration between researchers of different disciplines and
institutions.
iii. Ethical norms ensure that science research field can be held
accountable to the public. This prevent research misconduct and
conflicts of interest.
iv. Science research that follows ethical norms helps building public
support for the research. The quality and integrity of the research
convince the public for support and trust.
v. Ethics in science research promote moral and social values (Eg: social
responsibility, human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the law
and public health and safety). Lack of ethical practice in research
would risk the human, animals and the environment.

This laboratory course covers several basic ethical norms that should be
practiced by individuals conducting science research. The ethical norms
include:
a) Integrity
Integrity corresponds to honesty, trustworthiness, and high regard for
the scientific record. It is an aspect of moral character and experience.
b) Intellectual honesty