•Arrive on time and make sure to Check-In (Code-)

•Turn your Phone/Devices to silent mode

•Don’t eat and make a mess in the class

Ground Rules •Do not leave class early and consult with your tutor
•Ask for clarification if you are not sure about anything
•Do not talk to each other while we are teaching
•Participate in-class activity (Vevox)
•If you have any suggestions, please share them with us at the
end
Session 2- Ethics

Research Methods

Dr Farid Ullah
Associate Professor
f.ullah@chester.ac.uk

Abdul Muqeem
a.Muqeem@chester.ac.uk
 Session Plan

Power point Introduction to

slides ethics-related Q&A
presentation Document
 Learning Outcomes
Define Define what we mean by ethics

Explain why ethics are now so important to organizations and

Explain
individuals undertaking research
Describe why adopting an ethical approach to research is
Describe
important
Describe how ethical principles are of benefit to sound research
Describe
design
Apply an ethical framework to your own research design and
Apply
practice. (Ethics form, PID)
What do we mean by
‘Ethics’
• The moral principles guiding research
(Economic and Social Research Council,
ESRC, 2022);
• Sets of moral principles or norms that are
used to guide moral choices of behaviour
and relationships with others (Blumberg
et al., 2005);
For example (Doctors are ethically bound to
keep the confidentiality of their patients:
the so-called ‘duty of confidence’)
 Summary of Nuremberg Code

• A set of ethical guidelines for conducting research

on human subjects, established after the atrocities
committed by Nazi doctors in concentration camps
during WWII. The code was drafted in 1947 and has
since become a foundation document in the field of
research.
 Summary of Nuremberg Code
• Voluntary consent of the human subject is essential
• Experiment should yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and
not random and unnecessary in nature
• Experiment should be so designed on a knowledge of the problem under study that the anticipated results will justify
the performance of the experiment.
• Experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury
• No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will
occur
• The degree of risk should never exceed the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment
• Adequate facilities should be provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury,
disability, or death
• The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons
• The human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he/she has reached the physical or mental
state where continuation seems to him/her to be impossible
• The researcher must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he/she has probable cause to believe,
that a continuation is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject
 Typical research involving ethical risk
• Vulnerable groups – such as children and young people, those with learning
disabilities or special needs
• Sensitive topics – for example, sexual or illegal activities, or people’s
experience of abuse or violence
• Subjects can only be accessed via a gatekeeper – for example, some ethnic
or cultural groups
• Element of deception such as secret observation used without a
participant’s full or informed consent
• Access to confidential records or information
• Activities leading to stress, anxiety or humiliation amongst target groups
A student wants to do a survey of her fellow students asking them
about their experiences of harassment and bullying in the
workplace.

Is there an ethical issue

here?
A student wants to do a survey of her fellow students asking them
about their experiences of harassment and bullying in the
workplace.

Is there an ethical issue

here? p i c
to
ve
s iti
Se n
A student wants to interview people working in the care
sector about their experience of ‘modern slavery’.

Is there an ethical issue

here?
A student wants to interview people working in the care
sector about their experience of ‘modern slavery’.

Is there an ethical issue p

here? ro u
e g l
ra b
l n e
Vu
A student is researching customers’ perception of the quality of service
at Costa Coffee. She goes to a branch of Costa Coffee and chats with
customers about their experience, recording the conversation.

Is there an ethical issue

here?
A student is researching customers’ perception of the quality of service
at Costa Coffee. She goes to a branch of Costa Coffee and chats with
customers about their experience, recording the conversation.

Is there an ethical issue

here?
on ti
ce p
De
A student uses a secondary dataset to identify a firm and its
turnover and then states the name of the firm and its sales turnover
in the dissertation.

Is there an ethical issue

here?
A student uses a secondary dataset to identify a firm and its
turnover and then states the name of the firm and its sales turnover
in the dissertation.

Is there an ethical issue t y

here? a l i
nti e
fi d
o n
C
 Very detailed regulation
General Data regarding what you can and
Protection cannot do with people’s
Regulation data:
UK GDPR guidance and resources | I
(GDPR) CO
 Ethical principles fall into four main
areas, namely, the need to:

1. Avoid harm to participants

Ethical 2. Ensure informed consent of
Principles participants
3. Respect the privacy of
participants (e.g., anonymity)
4. Avoid deception
 Research will be considered harmful if
it causes a participant to be
• Embarrassed
• Ridiculed
Avoiding • Belittled or generally subject to
Harm to mental distress
Participants • Anxious
• Stressed
• Subject to negative emotional
reactions
 Researcher should provide information on:
• The aims of the research.
• Who will be undertaking it.
• Who is being asked to participate.
• What kind of information is being sought.

Informed • How much of the participant’s time is required

• That participation in the study is voluntary.
Consent • That responding to all questions is voluntary.
• Who will have access to the data once it is
collected.
• How anonymity of respondents will be
preserved.
• Who should it be returned to and by when
 • Respondents must give informed
consent
• Respondents have the right to
withdraw at any time
Respecting • Data (in electronic and manual
Privacy forms) must be kept securely
• Might be best for it to be
anonymised.
 Best achieved by being open and
transparent about the research
including:

Avoiding • Its objectives

Deception • Methods
• Uses
• Role of respondent, including time
and any other commitments
 Importance of Ethical Approval

• Ethical approval must be completed BEFORE

commencing your research.
• DO NOT start your research until ethical
approval is received from your supervisor.
Our experience from previous cohorts

• Ethics form not completed on time

• Research methodology change without consulting the allocated
supervisor & redoing Research Ethics form
• Confusions about Secondary Data Vs Primary data
• Submission of Research Ethics form without PID
• Submission of dissertation without ethical approval
• This could lead you to fail your Dissertation!
 Ethics Form Approval Process

Complete the ethics form

(MSc, MBA ONLY) available If primary data complete
If secondary data (only Send the completed form(s)
on the BU7002 portal page (PID and approval letter
Ethics Form) to your allocated supervisor
under the ethics tile from the organisation)
( Section A only)

You will receive an email

The allocated supervisor
Your allocated supervisor
will submit your ethics
will check and reply
Form
from your supervisor The ethics committee will
send the final approval
(Peer-Review) if
after a full review.
approved/Referred
 • For research projects to be conducted
outside of England (e.g., where the
participants are located in another
Research country) the process is somewhat more
complicated;
outside of • You will need to get a letter from an
academic who works in a university in
England the country in which the research is to be
conducted;
• The letter must state that the research
project complies with the ethics and
regulations in that country;
• This is because rules and laws differ by
country.
Ethics Form
Personal Information Document (PID)
Example
 All Ethics Related Document
• Research Ethics Form CBS MBA MA and MSc Students.docx
• Participant Info and Consent Doc CBS.docx
• Research Outside England Instructions link.docx
• Research Outside of England Sample Letter Contents.docx

For all other Ethics-related documents, follow the link below.

https://portal1.chester.ac.uk/FacultyofBusinessandManagement/
Pages/Templates-and-Resources.aspx
Please download the ethics form and fill it in for what you think is going to be
your topic.

Then we can discuss any issues you come across.

 • Research ethics refers to the moral principles guiding
research, conducting research in a responsible and
morally defensible way
• Any research involving the study of human populations
Summary can involve ethical considerations but particularly
research that deals with vulnerable groups, and/or
involves sensitive topics that could cause distress or
anxiety or involves any element of deception
• Central to the principles of research are that it should:
avoid harm to participants, ensure informed consent,
respect the privacy of participants and avoid deception
 Any
Question
 • Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business
students. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education (Chapter 6)

References • Gray, D. (2020) Doing Research in the Business World, SAGE (Chapter 4