Researchers are expected to understand the significance of ethical research and its impact on their research project ( McAreavey & Muir, 2011) . Whenever researchers seek to interact with members of a given business or communities to serve as participants or respondents, problems are likely to occur.
During my research I witnessed some ethical challenges despite being keen on all ethical considerations. Firstly, I was supposed to observe and protect confidentiality of the participants ( Duga & Graham, 2011) . However, during the interview, a supervisor or a manager was always present. It was difficult for me to ask them to leave. I felt uncomfortable because in such a state, it was obviously affecting the way the participants responded to the question. In that respect, protecting confidentiality and dignity of the participants was not achievable.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Informed consent is equally an ethical principle that should be observed during research. The participants are supposed to participate in the exercise voluntarily, devoid of any form of coercion. I was keen to discuss with the participants that they were taking part in my research on voluntary basis ( Millum, 2012) . Prior to conducting my interview, I engaged the organization’s management for permission. However, I was concerned that the participants felt obligated to participate, as a way of showing their respect to the management and not because it was out their free will.
I witnessed a good ethical related consideration, although that was informed by me as a researcher. In my research proposal, I had indicated that participation was free of charge. However, I changed that after realizing that I was eating into the time of the participants when they were supposed to be earning. Notably, the organization pays employees based on the number of hours they have worked. Specifically, they left their work stations to attend the interview.
By failing to address subtle violations of ethics, some of the potential damages likely to occur include violating confidentiality and abuse of personal dignity (Honan et al. 2013). In such a case, participants may develop low self esteem, and bad attitude towards their work place. Violation of ethics is not right at any given time. Currently, culture of ethics at my organization is guaranteed and in return, the department has been strengthened because personal boundaries are respected, and people treat each other with politeness and dignity.
References
Dugas, M. & Graham, J.E. (2011). Is consent for research genuinely informed? Using decision aid tools to obtain informed consent in the global south. J Glob Ethics. 7(3): 349–59.
Honan, E., Hamid, M.O., Alhamdan, B., Phommalangsy, P., Lingard, B. (2013). Ethical issues in cross ‐ cultural research. Int J Res Method Educ . 36(4): 386–99.
McAreavey, R. & Muir, J. (2011). Research ethics committees: Values and power in higher education. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 14(5): 391–405.
Millum, J. (2012). Sharing the benefits of research fairly: Two approaches. J Med Ethics. 38: 219–23.
