Minimizing Harm in the Context of Educational Research: An Ethical Issue

Abstract

Ethics is considered as one of the critical skills in social sciences, especially in disciplines such as education involving children and adult participants. The longstanding concerns and debates on ethics in educational research demonstrate that harms and risks for both researchers and participants, which may occur any time during the research process, have not been adequately researched. Ethical concerns often remain at the level of physical and psychological harm that can occur in the classroom setting and focus on plagiarism issues. However, the financial support needed by the researcher in order to carry out the research creates ethical obligations towards the institutions that provide this resource and may lead to some dilemmas. In this study, the harms that the research may cause are considered in the context of ethics, and the possible harms/risks that the researchers and participants may face are re-evaluated as an ethical dilemma. Physical harm/risk, psychological or emotional harm/risk, financial or economic harm/risk, reputational harm/risk, legal harm/risk, and not to benefit-risk are discussed within the scope of research in educational sciences and the suggestions to avoid the risk of harm were made. As a result, possible ethical dilemmas that may arise during the research process are examined, and the situations where the concept of harm cannot be addressed in a single context are indicated by taking informed consent as a reference. In order to meet ethical requirements, it was emphasized that at the beginning of the research, the researcher should rigorously evaluate the risk/harm scenarios, and the precautions that could be taken against possible harms should be determined. These measures will minimize the exposure of both the researcher and the participants to any risk or harm in the later stages of the research.

Keywords

• Educational sciences
• Ethics
• Harm
• Research
• Risk

Eğitim Araştırması Bağlamında Zararı En Aza İndirgemek: Bir Etik Meselesi

Abstract

Etik, sosyal bilimlerde özellikle çocuk ve yetişkin katılımcıların yer aldığı eğitim benzeri disiplinlerde anahtar becerilerden biri olarak kabul edilmektedir. Eğitim araştırmalarında etik konusunda uzun zamandır devam eden endişeler ve tartışmalar, katılımcıların ve araştırmacıların araştırma sürecinde uğrayabilecekleri zararın yeterince araştırılmadığını göstermektedir. Etik endişeler, genellikle sınıf ortamında oluşabilecek fiziksel ve psikolojik hasar seviyesinde kalmakta ve/veya araştırmacıların intihal yapıp yapmadığı noktasında yoğunlaşmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, araştırmanın yürütülebilmesi için araştırmacının ihtiyaç duyduğu finansman desteği, bu kaynağı sağlayan kuruluşlara karşı etik yükümlülükler doğurmakta ve bazı ikilemlere yol açabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, araştırmanın yaratabileceği zararlar etik bağlamında ele alınarak araştırmacıların ve katılımcıların uğrayabileceği olası zararlar/riskler etik bir ikilem olarak yeniden değerlendirilmiştir. Fiziksel zarar/risk, psikolojik veya duygusal zarar/risk, ticari veya ekonomik zarar/risk, itibar zarar/riski, yasal zarar/risk ve faydalanamama, eğitim bilimlerinde yapılan araştırmalar kapsamında tartışılmış ve zarar riskinin nasıl değerlendirilmesi gerektiğine dair öneriler sunulmuştur. Sonuç olarak, ortaya çıkabilecek muhtemel ikilemler incelenmiş ve zarardan kaçınma ile bilgilendirilmiş onam referans alınarak zarar kavramının tek bir bağlamda ele alınamayacağı durumlar belirtilmiştir. Etik gereksinimleri karşılamak için, araştırmanın başlangıcında araştırmacının titizlikle risk/zarar durumlarını değerlendirmesi gerektiği ve olası zararlara karşı alınabilecek önlemlerin belirlenmesi gerektiğinin üzerinde durulmuştur. Bu önlemler gerek araştırmacının gerekse katılımcıların araştırmanın ilerleyen noktalarında herhangi bir risk veya zarara uğrama durumuyla karşılaşmasını en aza indirgeyecektir.

Keywords

• Araştırma
• Eğitim bilimleri
• Etik
• Risk
• Zarar

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