Ethics for Graduate Researchers

A Cross-disciplinary Approach

Cathriona Russell, Linda Hogan, Maureen Junker-Kenny

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780124160491
• eBook ISBN: 9780123914842
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This edited collection is intended as a primer for core concepts and principles in research ethics and as an in-depth exploration of the contextualization of these principles in practice across key disciplines. The material is nested so that readers can engage with it at different levels and depths. It is unique in that it combines an analysis of complex ethical debates about the nature of research and its governance with the best of case-based and discipline-specific approaches. It deals with the following topics in depth: in the natural sciences, it explores the scientific integrity of the researcher and the research process, human cloning as a test case for the limits to research, and the emerging ethical issues in nanotechnology; in the health sciences, it takes up the question of consent, assent and proxies, research with vulnerable groups and the ethics of clinical trials; in the social sciences, it explores the issues that arise in qualitative research, interviews and ethnography; and in the humanities, it examines contested archaeologies and research in divided societies. - Overview of Research Ethics Principles - Full text papers from experienced researchers across many disciplines - Dialogue with ethicists

Introduction to Section 1

Developing Ethics as a Core Competency: Integrity in Scientific Research

Introduction to Section 1. Developing Ethics as a Core Competency: Integrity in Scientific Research

1 Recognising Traditions of Argumentation in Philosophical Ethics

2 Navigating the Minefields

3 Ethics and the Researcher

Introduction to Section 1. Developing Ethics as a Core Competency: Integrity in Scientific Research

Linda Hogan

University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

This section introduces ethics as a core competency in the research process. It suggests an approach that both builds on the ethical integrity of the researcher and that develops research practices to ensure that the institutional context in which research is pursued supports, reinforces and mandates responsible research.

Key Words

Ethical integrity, core competence, compliance, traditions of argumentation, ethical abuses

It is difficult to overstate the importance of ethical reflection in the context of research. Ethical reflection and evaluation is central to the manner in which research programmes are articulated and developed. It plays an important role in the determination of the fundamental objectives of research programmes and has a continuing role in the assessment of the methods and means by which such research objectives are pursued. Within this context, moreover, it is recognised that researchers need to be encouraged to develop their own skills of ethical reflection and evaluation, and furthermore, that research training for graduates ought to incorporate skills development in this field. With its focus on developing skills and competencies in research ethics, this collection proposes that training in research ethics ought to be available to graduate researchers in all fields, ideally in cross-disciplinary fora, and that it ought to form an integral part of all graduate education. However, while there is now a broad recognition that research in science and technology must proceed according to the highest ethics standards and researchers in this field need training in ethics, there is still a failure to appreciate fully that researchers in the humanities and social sciences may also face significant ethical dilemmas as they pursue their research. In order to mitigate this, the teaching programme from which this collection derives drew on graduate researchers from across many disciplinary fields, in science and engineering, in the health sciences including medicine and in the humanities and social sciences. In this way, early researchers were able to interrogate the objectives and progress of their specific research projects, not only in terms of the contribution to knowledge, but also, most especially, in relation to the ethical questions raised by the research, in the company of peers from very different disciplines.

In 2006, the Irish government, through the Higher Education Authority, announced a series of initiatives that were designed to support innovation in higher education. Under the umbrella of the Strategic Innovation Fund, over €510 million has been invested in the sector, with a significant portion of this multi-annual fund focused on developing graduate education and training. In the context of this initiative, Trinity College Dublin entered into a strategic alliance with University College Cork (UCC) and NUI Galway to add value to the already substantive provision of individual institutions. The aim has been to enhance the quality and effectiveness of training for graduate researchers, particularly through the development of new generic skills training at the highest level. There is no doubt that graduate researchers benefit from generic skills training in a number of important areas. The programme within which this research ethics training has been situated incorporates a host of other skills-based modules, including commercialisation of research and technology transfer, communications skills and statistics and data analysis. Indeed, this programme of graduate education has been tremendously successful and has been a catalyst for further innovations in the sector. The commitment to inter-institutional collaboration in particular has garnered significant support, as students and academics alike have benefited greatly from such interactions. Indeed, the ‘Research Ethics for Graduate Researchers’ programme actively pursued this inter-institutional model, both in the development of the curriculum and the delivery of the modules.

The central premise of this collection, and of the teaching programme on which it is based, is that the graduate researcher him/herself must think through the ethical issues that he/she encounters as the research proceeds. It is important, therefore, that research ethics is not simply associated with compliance, but rather that it is understood to be integral to good research. Of course, if graduate researchers are to develop the skills of ethical reflection, then they need to be introduced to key aspects of the history, philosophy and sociology of ethics, because it is through such exposure that the researcher can think critically about his or her core values and the values of the disciplines and institutions in which they work. Indeed, this focus on the individual graduate researcher provides the major focus for this first section, as it is from this platform that all ethical reflection ultimately proceeds. In support of this approach, the collection aims both to introduce researchers to the core concepts and principles in research ethics and to provide specialist in-depth explorations of these principles as they are contextualised in practice across key disciplines. The material is presented so that readers can engage with it at different levels, thus the introductions to the key principles link to the podcasts of the discipline-specific lectures, and then to the texts of the complete papers. The uniqueness of the collection, therefore, is that it combines an analysis of complex ethical debates about the nature of research and its governance, with the best of case-based and discipline-specific approaches. As such, it is intended to be a relevant and accessible resource for graduate students in all disciplines.

The collection opens with a discussion of the different traditions of argumentation in philosophical ethics. Through this consideration of the different ways in which ethical argumentation has traditionally proceeded, graduate researchers are enabled to recognise the fundamental frameworks that are at play in ethical reflection, and to identify the approaches that most resonate with their own values and principles. Maureen Junker-Kenny’s chapter opens with the reminder that, at its most basic level, ethical reflection invokes the shared human capacity to generate value judgements based on our ability to be self-reflective, and that, historically, such reflection has generated a host of different articulations of these values and principles. In Chapter 1, Junker-Kenny analyses the different traditions of argumentation that are embedded particularly in Western philosophical discourse, and highlights the manner in which these traditions allow for different values to be fore-grounded and promoted. Her discussion highlights the strengths and weaknesses of five major ethical traditions, namely virtue ethics, utilitarianism/consequentialism, deontology, contract ethics and discourse ethics. There is no doubt that each approach highlights an important dimension of ethical reflection. Virtue ethics, for example, stresses that ethics ought not to be focused only on acts, or rules or quandaries, but rather ought to be concerned with character formation, with the development of certain basic attitudes and with enabling the individual to make prudential decisions. Utilitarianism, by contrast, is concerned with the consequences of particular actions and assesses the merits of decisions on the basis that it contributes to ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest possible number’. Utilitarian ethics has nuanced its original conception of ‘happiness’, which ought not to be equated simply with pleasure, but rather with a more rounded account of human well-being. Deontology fundamentally disputes the utilitarian approach and holds that some choices can never be justified according to their consequences, no matter how good such consequences appear to be. Thus, an individual may never make certain choices, because certain fundamental principles may never be compromised. Classically, deontology insists that human beings may never be instrumentalised and may never be used only as a means to a particular good – no matter how admirable that good may be. Contract ethics views morality in terms of a contract entered into out of self-interest, whereas discourse ethics tries to identify conditions for reaching a moral consensus in a public sphere in which citizens participate in their function both as authors and as addressees of laws. Junker-Kenny compares the different approaches in terms of their understandings of self, agency and inter-subjectivity that contribute to how they treat the ethical issues associated with the protection of vulnerable subjects. She concludes by drawing out the consequences for graduate researchers as they become able to contribute to the professional and public deliberation on such issues, aware of major variations in regulation between countries and of the argumentations conducted in the public realm of different political cultures.

Alan L. Kelly, Dean of Graduate Studies at UCC, continues this reflection on developing ethics as a core competency in Chapter 2 that focuses directly on the practical questions that researchers encounter as they design and develop their research methods. Kelly focuses in particular on scientific research, although his concerns certainly transcend these disciplines. Kelly notes that there is an increasingly well-defined set of principles which establish the parameters of responsible conduct in research, and he insists that these ought to be clearly articulated and frequently communicated. In terms of the practice of research, such principles recognise the importance of operating honestly when handling and reporting on data, and he highlights the serious hazards associated with dishonesty in the treatment of the results of research. Kelly also discusses the norms that ought to guide the designation of authorship, reminding researchers that the attribution of authorship is indeed an ethical issue and warning that the inequalities in the relationship between supervisor and graduate student should not be exploited in this context. Kelly discusses a number of the high-profile cases of scientific misconduct that have emerged over the past 20 years. In doing so, he highlights the manner in which the ever-increasing pressure for success can, and often does, corrupt the research process. As a result, he argues, graduate researchers must be attuned, not only to the norms of ethical scientific conduct, but also to the traditions of reflection and evaluation that will enable them to recognise and to respond to the ethical challenges embedded in their own research programmes.

The final chapter in this section (Chapter 3) is by Professor Frank Gannon, who is currently the Director of The Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia, but who, when he contributed to the module on research ethics, was the Director General of Science Foundation Ireland. Gannon’s chapter speaks directly to the issue of ethical integrity, arguing that this is at the core of all ethical behaviour in research. Gannon begins by insisting that because research is a public and social good, it must be governed by sound ethical principles. Research, especially in science and technology, gives rise to a host of fundamental ethical questions, and the significance of these issues (e.g. stem-cell research or human enhancement) confirms the importance of maintaining the highest of ethics standards in science and technology. Quite simply, he argues, the behaviour of scientists must match the challenges that they face. His chapter focuses on the laboratory, and therein he outlines the multiplicity of challenges that the researcher faces in the pursuit of sound scientific research. He argues that the potential for misconduct lurks everywhere, notwithstanding the noble intentions of most researchers. Gannon structures his chapter around the key roles of researcher and research supervisor and analyses the pressures associated with the research process in the natural sciences and the hazards that are associated with the desire for success and for results. His chapter provides a salutary warning for idealistic early researchers who may not yet be attentive to the rationalisation and self-deception in which researchers can engage. Gannon’s conclusion, however, is that within the laboratory each individual has an important role to play in ensuring that ethical standards are adhered to and in establishing a context in which individuals are habituated in the norms of ethical research. High ethical standards are essential in the research context, both in terms of the integrity of the research process, and ultimately in terms of the quality of the research itself.

The three chapters in this section share a common concern, namely to further the development of programmes that will improve the ethical articulacy and competence of graduate researchers. They share the conviction that good practice in research ethics begins with a commitment to self-critical reflection and with a determination to pursue each research programme with integrity and honesty. The chapters also recognise that education in research ethics requires ongoing engagement throughout a researcher’s career. It requires researchers to develop a degree of fluency in ethical argumentation, as well as an understanding of the manner in which certain values and principles are embedded, for better or worse, in the various moral frameworks that are operative in different research settings. Ultimately, they make the case that ethical reflection and critical thinking will flourish only in a culture that prizes such skills and regards them as integral to the excellence of the research process itself.

Captions and links for PODCAST files for this section.

Linda Hogan

1. Introducing a module in Ethics for Graduate Researchers.

Maureen Junker-Kenny

1. Communicative reason and the Frankfurt School.

Alan Kelly

1. Encountering ethical concerns as a graduate researcher.

2. Scientific misconduct in ethical perspective.

Frank Gannon

1. Responsibilities throughout a scientific researcher’s career: doing a PhD.

2. Moving on to post-doctoral research.

3. The pressure to publish.

4. Running a research foundation.

5. Sharing results with peers.

6. Ethical questions in the funding of research.

These can be found at http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780124160491

1

Recognising Traditions of Argumentation in Philosophical Ethics

Maureen Junker-Kenny

Department of Religions & Theology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

In thi...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• About the authors
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• Introduction to Section 1. Developing Ethics as a Core Competency: Integrity in Scientific Research
• Introduction to Section 2. Research Ethics Governance in the EU; the Role of Civic Debate, the Question of Limits in Research
• Section 3. Contextualising Ethical Principles in Research Practice in Different Disciplines
• Section 4. Emerging Debates and Future Prospects