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The Ethics of Fieldwork

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Submitted By leopoldva
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The Ethics of Fieldwork If we are going to conduct a research project including some interviews, we have to know the history of how to take interview by rules. “In 1974, the National Research Act established the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biometrical and Behavioral
Research. In 1979, the Commission published what’s commonly called “the Belmont Report,” which identifies three basic principles relevant to the ethics of research involving human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice” (Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater 121-122). All informants should be volunteers in any research projects. They also have to have enough information about the research and then to decide if they would like to be a part of this research. First of all, if we decided to take an interview for our research study, we have to ask our informant to sign formal permission or at least an informed consent form. For example, before I took an interview with Dasha, she gave permission to me to interview her for my
English class research paper. I explained the project to Dasha, and she even did not ask me to read the final draft with all information she provided. The only thing Dasha asked me to use a pseudonym instead of her real name. It would not be ethical if I did not protect the anonymity of my informant. To be a good researcher we have to show a respect for person.
“Researchers should protect informants against risk from harm and also from the loss of any benefit that might be gained from research” (Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater 122). For instance, last semester I wrote a great essay about TJ Maxx. The paper was so good, that one of my friend said that I could ask for discount from this store because I my essay was an amazing advertisement. As an ethical researcher, I could not do this because I conducted this research paper to better understand what a department store is. I did not do this to get any profit. Justice means we have to choose our informant fairly, “without creating undue pressure, especially for people who already experience burdens” (Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater 122). In my research paper about international dating service I interviewed one girl, her name is Marina. Her first love story was sad, but in spite of all her suffering before, she is happy now. During my interview I tried to ask discreet questions, so that did not upset her. As we can see, these principles from the Belmont Report are important for the ethics of research. It is does not matter what research we are going to conduct, we have to follow faithfully the basic ethics rules: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice.

Works Cited
Sunstein, Bonnie Stone, and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater. FieldWorking: Reading and Writing
Research. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.

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