Why Is Ethical Research Important In Research

This paper will discuss the importance of ethics in research. It will detail why research should be ethical, why it is important, describe the principles of ethical research and provide examples of unethical practices. To begin it is important to understand what does ethics in research mean. As it is presented in our textbook Mass ,"research involves human beings and the rights of these participants must not be violated." It is also important that information obtained through research be presented without alteration. Guidelines and principles have been developed to insure that research is conducted ethically and that its participants are not harmed.
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It is then beneficence that insures the protection of the subjects. Beneficence has two important factors, one is "do not harm" and secondly, "maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms". Justice pertains to the area of "who benefits" from this research. In the HBO film The Tuskegee Study, beneficence and justice was not practiced by the researchers. The study conducted in the film failed to protect the human subjects. The medical staff in the film did not provide truthful information. The unethical behavior of the medical staff was directly responsible for human loss. Justice is another factor that was not practiced in this film. In the film there is a scene in which a doctor states "great pains for great rewards". The medical staff hide the important facts that must be made known to the subjects. The entire study was conducted with lies and false information. In order to conduct ethical research you must follow these four guidelines. One, provide the subjects free choice. Two, protect their rights to privacy. Three, the research must benefit those being studied and not be harmed in the process. Lastly, subjects must be treated with respect.
An example where harm came to subjects and consent was not obtained was in the Facebook video titled "Facebook 's controversial Study: What you need to know". Facebook conducted a qualitative study in which they manipulated the information being viewed by their users without their consent. Facebook wanted to study the behavior of its users when exposed to certain online materials. It was discovered that users were experiencing psychological distress as a result of this study. This study failed two of the five truths to the scientific method in which is was not public and