Vulnerability of Participants and Ethical Treatment

Careful consideration and planning to reduce or mitigate risk are essential for all dissertation research plans. In human services research, a researcher will encounter a wide diversity of human subjects and topics involving human subjects, thus this point cannot be too strongly emphasized.
•    Present your assessment of the vulnerability of the potential participants in your study.
•    Delineate clearly all procedures you will be using to ensure protection and ethical treatment by the researcher.

Your post should be at least 1 page and include scholarly citations. (You must use at least two references to support your work)

I attached a copy of my dissertation paper. Please let me know if you need any additional information to complete this assignment.

Unit Reading:  (Please read all readings and attachments)

Ethical Issues in Research
INTRODUCTION
Scholarly research demands that the process is driven by sound ethical practices throughout the entire process. Ethical issues in research include proper attribution of sources to skilled paraphrasing and summarizing to ethical treatment of human subjects.

Review the Ethical Practice Word document to begin thinking more about the following issues:

Plagiarism.
Paraphrasing properly.
Borrowing ideas.
Protection of human participants in research.

Unit reading :
Ethical Practice

Scholarly research demands that the process is driven by sound ethical practices throughout the entire process.  Ethical issues in research span the gamut from proper attribution of sources to skilled paraphrasing and summarizing to ethical treatment of human subjects.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism can be defined as “taking and using as one’s own the writings or ideas of another” (American Heritage Dictionary, 1981).

Plagiarism includes not only copying verbatim, but also rephrasing the ideas of another without properly acknowledging the source. Most learners and researchers recognize that quoting from a reference without crediting the authors constitutes plagiarism. They also understand that plagiarism covers instances when a source is referenced, but inadequately referenced. For example, a learner or researcher references a source, but then transcribes passages from the source verbatim without quotation marks. However, inadequate referencing covers more than problems with quotations. Three instances warrant further discussion.

Paraphrasing Properly
First, a learner or researcher might reference a source and then change several words within a paragraph in an attempt to paraphrase the author. True paraphrasing involves more effort than this. Paraphrasing is a process of reading, synthesizing, interpreting, and summarizing another author’s work. Changing a few words does not meet the standard for paraphrasing. To avoid plagiarism, you must either quote directly (referencing the author’s name, date, and page number) or paraphrase in your own words, while referencing the original source (author’s name and date).

Borrowing Ideas
Second, plagiarism covers instances in which a student or researcher borrows the ideas of another author without giving adequate credit.

Ideas include how an author organizes a subject matter and how he or she explains or interprets a subject matter. While these cases can be harder to detect, the following example might help clarify what this type of plagiarism can entail: A researcher might organize the presentation of his or her literature review using the topic headings provided by another author. Even if the other author is referenced somewhere in the paper, the researcher is obligated to credit the categorization of the topic to that author as well.

You are encouraged to review the University Academic Honesty policy on iGuide to understand The University’s position on plagiarism. You are encouraged to read all of the resources and links to additional resources to improve your academic writing skills, and to learn to avoid plagiarism.

Protection of Human Participants in Research
The iGuide resource Research at The University, introduced in Unit 1, and other research resources on iGuide provide a plethora of information and training on the protection of human participants in research. There is a long and difficult history associated with the use of human participants in research, and abuses and mistakes have led to the establishment of an agreed-upon set of principles under which research must be conducted. This covenant is laid out in a nationally acknowledged document known as the “Belmont Report.”

There are three major principles outlined in the “Belmont Report”:
•    Respect for persons.
•    Beneficence.
•    Justice.

These principles are the basis for U.S. Federal Law 45 CFR 46, which provides guidelines for everything from the way participants are recruited to the informed consent process and the assurance of confidentiality that must be provided for research participants.

To uphold the principles established in the “Belmont Report” and enforce U.S. Federal Law 45 CFR 46, every institution involved in research, includingThe University, has what is known as an IRB. The IRB is charged with reviewing all research conducted at the institution or by those affiliated with that institution to ensure it complies with the law.

References
Plagiarism. (1981). In American heritage dictionary of the English language. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.