CONSIDERATION

DESCRIPTION
FACTOR
The most important criterion in selecting a
research problem.
The whole research process is normally time
1. Interest consuming and a lot of hard work is needed. If
you choose a topic which does not greatly interest
you, it would become difficult to keep up the
motivation to write.
Before selecting a research problem, you
need to ensure that you met certain level of
expertise in the area you are proposing.
Make use of the facts you learned during the
2. Expertise study and of course your research supervisors will
lend a hand as well.
*** Remember, you need to do most of the
work yourself.
If your research title needs collection of
information (journal, reports, proceedings) before
3. Data availability finalizing the title, you need to make sure you
have these materials available and in the relevant
format
Always choose a topic that suits your interest
and profession. Ensure that your study adds to
4. Relevance the existing body of knowledge. Of course, this
will help you to sustain interest throughout the
research period.
In formulating the research problem, you
should consider some ethical issues as well.
Sometimes, during the research period, the
study population might be adversely affected by
some questions.
5. Ethics In ICT, some scenarios might occur especially
research related information security, which might
concern certain authorities. Therefore, it is always
good for you to identify ethics related issues
during the research problem formulation itself.
Research ethics provides guidelines for the
responsible conduct of research. In addition, it
educates and monitors scientists conducting
research to ensure a high ethical standard. The
following is a general summary of some ethical
principles:
Honesty:
Honestly report data, results, methods and
procedures, and publication status. Do not
fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data.
Objectivity:
Strive to avoid bias in experimental design,
data analysis, data interpretation, peer review,
personnel decisions, grant writing, expert
testimony, and other aspects of research.
Integrity:
Keep your promises and agreements; act with
sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and
action.
Carefulness:
Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully
and critically examine your own work and the
work of your peers. Keep good records of
research activities.
Openness:
Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be
open to criticism and new ideas.
Respect for Intellectual Property:
Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of
intellectual property. Do not use unpublished
data, methods, or results without permission.
Give credit where credit is due. Never
plagiarize.
Confidentiality:
Protect confidential communications, such as
papers or grants submitted for publication,
personnel records, trade or military secrets,
and patient records.
Responsible Publication:
Publish in order to advance research and
scholarship, not to advance just your own
career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative
publication.
Responsible Mentoring:
Help to educate, mentor, and advise students.
Promote their welfare and allow them to make
their own decisions.
Respect for Colleagues:
Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.
Social Responsibility:
Strive to promote social good and prevent or
mitigate social harms through research, public
education, and advocacy.
Non-Discrimination:
Avoid discrimination against colleagues or
students on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or
other factors that are not related to their
scientific competence and integrity.
Competence:
Maintain and improve your own professional
competence and expertise through lifelong
education and learning; take steps to promote
competence in science as a whole.
Legality:
Know and obey relevant laws and institutional
and governmental policies.
Animal Care:
Show proper respect and care for animals
when using them in research. Do not conduct
unnecessary or poorly designed animal
experiments.
Human Subjects Protection:
When conducting research on human
subjects, minimize harms and risks and
maximize benefits; respect human dignity,
privacy, and autonomy.
Importance of ethical considerations in a
research
Maintaining privacy and confidentiality
Ethical considerations forms a major element in a
The researcher should maintain the confidentiality of the
research. The researcher needs to adhere to promote the
responses of the subjects involved in the study.
aims of the research imparting authentic knowledge, truth
Furthermore the researcher must ensure privacy of the
and prevention of error. Furthermore, following ethics
participants. Researcher should maintain a trustworthy
enables scholars to deal collaborative approach towards
relationship with the respondents, so that their responses
their study with the assistance of their peers, mentors and
will not be divulged to others. The researcher can also
other contributors to the study.
use codes in order to record the data to encrypt personal
This requires values alike accountability, trust, mutual information.
respect and fairness among all the parties involved in a
Following guidelines and avoid plagiarism
study. This in turn depends on protection of intellectual
property rights of all the contributors, established through It is crucial for the researcher to follow guidelines laid
implementation of ethical considerations. Other ethical down by the authority before initiating a study. If the
considerations in a research refers to accountability researcher finds the data to be erroneous then it is the
towards general public by protecting the human or animal responsibility of the researcher to correct the data.
subjects used in the study. Similarly appropriate usage of
public funds and gaining of public support is also Ethics Examples
important.

Planning a research Promote authentic, Falsifying, fabrication and

misrepresentation of data which
original and true
A research should be planned to avoid misleading results can alter a real scenario such as
knowledge by
and meet acceptability while the questions regarding the degree of economic
avoiding error. development of a nation.
ethical procedure should also be resolved.
Furthermore, the researcher should ensure welfare and
dignity of the subjects. Maintaining intellectual property
rights of fellow researchers,
Safeguarding collected information To promote values
mentors and other scholars. This
of collaborative
can be achieved by bestowing
Researcher should collect responses from participants work. proper credentials to their
related to the study. Thus, the researcher should avoid contribution in the research.
the use of faulty equipments to ensure accuracy.
Furthermore, the researcher must follow disciplinary
Maintaining governmental and
standards and practices to safeguard the responses of university policies on human
the subjects. subject protection and animal care.
This will guarantee the
Responsibility of protecting the respondents
researcher’s accountability towards
Public public.
The researcher should take care of their subjects from
accountability.
any discomfort arising due to their involvement in the The researcher can gain public
research process. In addition to, the researcher should support for funding his/her study
adhere inform the subjects about any risks, benefits and (e.g. on genes or rare medicine),
purpose of the study. which otherwise requires huge
finances and time.
Maintenance of
quality & integrity
along with moral Researchers put lives at risk when
and social values they fabricate data in the study of
like, social medicine. Furthermore, if a
responsibility, researcher discloses information
human rights, legal of their AIDS subjects without their
compliance, animal discrete can lead to mental or
welfare, public physical stress.
health & safety,
etc.