Research Ethics

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performed by: M. Sc. Tyutkov V.
Research Ethics

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Norms (principles) of scientific research
Scientific research
z is a process that is known to be quite complex and lengthy. The following main stages can be
conditionally distinguished in it:
— the emergence of an idea, the formulation of the topic;
— definition of the purpose and objectives of the study;
— putting forward a hypothesis, its theoretical justification;
— conducting research, summarizing scientific results;
— analysis and design of scientific research;
— implementation and determination of the effectiveness of scientific research.
Like any activity, scientific research is regulated by certain ideals and standards, which express the goals and attitudes
of scientific activity [11, 24].
The culture of scientific research is determined by their compliance with generally accepted norms (principles) and
concerns, in fact, all stages of research activity.
The concept of the culture of scientific research is closely connected with their ethics and conscientious practice.

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Research — marketing and social forms of public opinion research and data analysis, systematic collection and
interpretation of information about individuals and organizations.
Researcher — any person, research agency, organization, its department or division conducting research or
advising its organizers.
Respondent — any person or organization from which the researcher intends to receive information in the
interests of the research he is conducting.
Personal data — any information relating directly or indirectly to a specific or identifiable individual (subject of
personal data). They can also be called personal data and "personally identifiable information".
Harm — material and physical harm (for example, bodily injury or financial loss), non-material or moral harm
(for example, damage to reputation or prestige) or excessive invasion of privacy, including sending personalized
marketing messages not agreed with the recipient.

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Researchers ensure non-interference in personal life by maintaining anonymity and confidentiality for nondisclosure of information.
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Anonymity means that the names of citizens are not disclosed, and the identity cannot be identified. Researchers
ensure anonymity by assigning each respondent a specific code or number.
Confidentiality consists in the fact that information can be correlated with names, but the researcher does not
disclose names in his publications.
While conducting qualitative research, the researcher needs to collect material, but at the same time prevent
interference in the privacy of respondents. The question of ethics is especially relevant in the study of sensitive
issues for citizens:
• private life;
• health;
• religion;
• sexual orientation;
• finance;
• relations with law enforcement agencies and criminal record

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Ethical research is based on four basic principles of researcher's interaction with people and
information.
1
Compliance with the law. The research should always be objective and comply with national and
international legislation. Falsification of results is unacceptable!
2
Respect. Respect the privacy and personal boundaries of your respondents, take into account their
cultural characteristics. Participation in the study should always be on a voluntary basis.

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3
Responsibility. Your main task is to protect the interests of respondents at each stage of the study. Before
starting the survey, explain to respondents how their personal data will be used, to whom and for what
purposes the information will be provided.
4
Honesty. Be open and honest in the dialogue with the participants of the study. The study should be as
transparent as possible, you should not mislead the participants.
The researcher always needs to remember about the correct data collection and their objective presentation.
You cannot manipulate the data, otherwise you will influence the decision of one of the participants or
represent the point of view of one of the respondents.

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THE PRINCIPLE OF ANONYMITY
The principle of anonymity plays an exceptionally beneficial role in ensuring the reliability of information, as
it has a positive effect on both the persons studied and the questionnaires. When the subjects are
convinced that the information they give is stored in the typewriter, they speak frankly, imbued with
confidence in the study. Apoptimacy predisposes the studied persons to freely and calmly point out their
personal weaknesses and gaps, reveal shortcomings in the organization of work and in public life, correctly
state their views and thoughts, feelings and experiences. This conclusion is also confirmed by the
experience of Bulgarian sociologists. During the sociological study of religiosity in 1962, those studied
persons who were believers indicated in anonymous group- tioBbix questionnaires with uri that they are
religious, that they pray at home. At the same time, the data of the direct questionnaire coincide with the
data of the indirect questionnaire, which confirms our conclusion about the frankness of the studied
persons in this regard. Anonymity also affects the work of spider managers and questionnaires. If they
know that the research will not infringe on the interests of the investigated persons in any way, they work
calmly, without doubts and remorse, convey their own conviction of anonymity to the investigated persons.
It is usually believed that anonymity is expressed in the fact that the questionnaire does not indicate the
surname and address of the person under study

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This directly discredits the research and undermines the credibility of sociological research in
general among the public. It is necessary that workers learn to believe sociologists
unconditionally, to accept them readily, and to speak with them quite frankly. If these two
conditions are preserved, the information delivered by the study will be anonymous. Of course,
there is no need to emphasize here that we are talking about individual neural information, and
not about aggregate information. But we have already emphasized that with aggregate
information, an individual does not appear either as an object or as a source. So understood
anoppmpo can manifest itself in two forms; with one, the surname and address of the person
under study are not indicated in the questionnaire, with the other it is done. In the second form,
it is difficult to convince the person under investigation of anonymity, since it is anonymity in
relation to the public, but not in relation to the questionnaire. To emphasize the advantages of
the first form of anonymity in this regard, some authors call it the "ideal anonymity" 1.

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This is undoubtedly
z a prerequisite for anonymity, but only in certain cases, and not always.
Sometimes it is necessary to write down the name and address of the person under study, but it
does not automatically follow from here that the information loses its anonymity in this case. For
example, since 1962, for several years in the Novosibirsk region, as in some other regions of the
USSR, a study of the professional orientation of applicants and eighth graders was conducted.
The study was conducted under the guidance of Shubkin. Before the end of the school year,
students filled out a questionnaire on which they wrote down their last name and address. This
was required because in the autumn of the same year, each of them filled out a new questionnaire
to monitor the real fulfillment of personal desires and plans for professional orientation. In this
case, in our opinion, the study has not lost its anonymity. Shubkin himself writes without due
justification that the study was not anonymous, since the surname of the person under study was
recorded in the questionnaire 145, These examples show that it is necessary to find out the
essence of anonymity in more detail and in depth in an empirical sociological study. In our opinion,
anonymity is expressed in the following two things. Firstly, information about a particular person
under investigation, which is collected and registered, is not made public. Neither what directly
characterizes the person under study, reveals his qualities, actions and manifestations, nor what
the person under study thinks about others, about his leaders, about social phenomena, about the
social environment surrounding him, is made public.

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But with both forms of anonymity, information about a particular person under investigation is not disclosed, and no
personal, official, z
organizational and political conclusions are made about him. The principle of anonymity is
mandatory in any empirical sociological research, however, depending on the method of registration, more
specifically, on the method of collecting information, this principle is applied in various forms. The main thing is to
use the principle of anonymity to convince the studied persons, as well as scientific supervisors and questionnaires,
that the study does not affect their interests in any way, that it cannot harm them, that it is completely neutral
towards them. If this is achieved, then one of the essential prerequisites for frankness, for the reliability of the
information is available. Of course, the neutrality of empirical sociological research in relation to people's interests
(in principle, this applies to all other empirical social research) is not and cannot be absolute in at least two
respects. On the one hand, empirical sociological research, as a rule, has the task of promoting the improvement of
social management, and hence the system of socialist social relations. It should have led, at least in most cases, to
some practical measures in this direction. There is a positive connection between empirical research and the
interests of a huge part of the working people. Only those elements are interested in such a result who use certain
shortcomings of existing social forms in order to realize their personal egoistic interests that run counter to the
interests of socialist society, naro da. It is necessary to explain well the indicated positive relationship between
empirical sociological research and the interests of workers, so that workers see in empirical research an important
means of improving the mechanisms of social life, and hence accelerating the pace of socialist development and
improving the material and spiritual well-being of the masses. On the other hand, the information provided by
empirical sociological research always has significance for a certain social group, for a certain territory and for a
certain time. It reveals both achievements and shortcomings, both positive and negative facts.

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Thus, this information
has a certain relevance to the assessment of the relevant governing bodies
and figures, since the main criterion of their activities is the results of these activities. And some of
these results, as we see, are revealed by scientific means — empirical sociological research. But
the indicated connection between the interests of workers, governing bodies and figures and
empirical sociological research is qualitatively different from the connection between an individual
person under study and this study. In the first case, we are talking about communication, which is
carried out through many intermediary links. So, for example, for this it is necessary to process
individual primary information, theoretically analyze it, extract practical recommendations from it,
make appropriate management decisions, implement these decisions in practice. Usually this
process lasts months and years. At the same time, management decisions are usually made with
the help of other types of information. All this has a very strong effect on the relationship between
workers, including leading figures, and this empirical sociological research. In the second case, we
are talking about a connection in which the interests of the person under investigation cannot be
directly affected in any respect, regardless of the information that this person has given or received
about him. It is on this fact that the principle of anonymity is based, which is designed to help
overcome or neutralize the reasons that can affect the frankness and objectivity of the person under
study.

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Thank you for your attention
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