5c - Professional Ethics

Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity
(Oxford Dictionary)


Having read reader five I have learnt that there are three main contexts in which ethics is considered: personal, professional and organisational. so I began by thinking about my own qualities and considering the extremes of these. for example I am Confident (which you have to be in my profession) but the extremes of this would be insecure or arrogant. 

I particularly like this quote from some online research into Aristotle's theories on ethics as fundamentally I think all ethical considerations should firstly begin by looking at ourselves. 

'a virtuous person is someone who is kind across many situations over a lifetime because that is her character and not because she wants to maximise utility or gain favours or simply do her duty.' (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

However in case study 1 in Reader 5 'Mid-Staffordshire Inquiry: Unhealthy System' (The Guardian 8/11/10) personal and professional ethics appear to clash which resulted in 1200 patients dying of preventable causes. I was shocked to discover that 'there is no statutory obligation to be honest with patients when things go wrong.' and this clearly indicates that personal ethics does not work alone in a professional setting and that codes of conduct are required. Although health care does not relate to my line of enquiry, this case proves how important professional ethics are, and how vital it is to not imply regulations but also follow them.


Reading through the 'Educational Guidelines for Ethical Research', provided on the BERA website, has given me a good general understanding of what is expected of me ethically as I begin to plan my enquiry in preparation for module 3. Using the theoretical ethical framework I now feel more confident in filling out the ethics release form and also have gained a greater understanding of my responsibility as a researcher. 

BERA's ethical guidelines for researchers state that;


Responsibilities to the Community of Educational Researchers 

43 The community of educational researchers is considered to mean all those engaged in educational research including academics, professionals (from private or public bodies), teachers and students. 

Misconduct 

44 All educational researchers must protect the integrity and reputation of educational research by ensuring they conduct their research to the highest standards. Researchers must therefore not bring research into disrepute by, for example:
 • Falsifying research evidence or findings;
 • ‘Sensationalizing’ findings in a manner that sacrifices intellectual capital for maximum public exposure; 
• Distorting findings by selectively publishing some aspects and not others;
 • Criticizing other researchers in a defamatory or unprofessional manner;
 • Exploiting the conditions of work and roles of contract research staff; 
• Undertaking work for which they are perceived to have a conflict of interest or where selfinterest or commercial gain might be perceived to compromise the objectivity of the research; 
• Undertaking work for which they are not competent; 
• Using work carried out with co-researchers as the basis of individual outputs without the agreement of the co-researchers concerned; 
• Using research for fraudulent or illegal purposes. 

45 Where researchers become aware of examples of malpractice or potential malpractice they must present their concerns, in the first instance, to the researchers involved. With due consideration to the important principle of the public’s right to know, researchers should avoid bringing the community into disrepute through public accusations or allegations.

 46 Subject to any limitations imposed by agreements to protect confidentiality and anonymity, researchers must make their data and methods amenable to reasonable external scrutiny. The assessment of the quality of the evidence supporting any inferences is an especially important feature of any research and must be open to scrutiny. Where sponsors initiate the request for scrutiny, and disclosure of aspects of the data may be injurious to participants, researchers should consider assuring the sponsor of the integrity of the work through the scrutiny of a mutually acceptable third-party, who is also bound by the non-disclosure agreements.

 47 Researchers must accord due respect to all methodologies and related methods. They must contribute to the community spirit of critical analysis and constructive criticism that generates improvement in practice and enhancement of knowledge. 


The Participants Wellbeing

Because my research will involve speaking with fellow performers I must make sure that they are fully briefed on what the aims of my research are, and that before they agree to taking part in my research they know what I am asking them to do. Participants are welcome to decline my request for them to be included in my enquiry research and this will not affect them in anyway and can also freely withdraw from the enquiry at any point in the duration. My life is slightly easier because I will not be gaining research from minors and the nature of my question means that I will only be researching into musical theatre performers. In order to accurately represent participants views and to gather a broad range of data I will be gathering data from both male and female participants as well as from a range of different age groups, as performers fresh out of college may well have completely different opinions on my subject matter than those who have been in the industry for some time.

Methods of Enquiry

My main ways of collecting data for my enquiry will be through interview and also questionnaire (post to follow!) Both procedures will be appropriate to the line of enquiry and not delve into the personal lives of the participants beyond the necessary requirements for research purposes. I will clarify with all participants that by taking part in my enquiry they accept that I am free to use the data they provide me for use only in regards to my enquiry for purposes on this course. I will also be keeping all records of information given in a secured folder so that I am the only person capable of accessing the information given to be by participants. In accordance with the guidelines set out by ICO in regards to data protection, all data gathered will be destroyed upon completion of the course.  

Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

'This is the fifth data protection principle. In practice, it means that you will need to:

• review the length of time you keep personal data;
• consider the purpose or purposes you hold the information for in deciding whether (and for how long) to retain it;
• securely delete information that is no longer needed for this purpose or these purposes; and
• update, archive or securely delete information if it goes out of date.'

(data protection act 1998)

Effects/Impact

My line of enquiry is something I am extremely passionate about as it is a huge part of my life as well of many of my close friends and colleagues. I hope that by participants sharing information with me and by collecting as much data as possible in order to aid my enquiry that the impact of change will only be positive. For the most part, at this moment in time, I can see no real need for my participants identities to be revealed as their names will play no role in the benefit of the data I collect. Age, gender and length of time ‘in the business’ are all factors that may well be relevant though. In short, the impact of change to my participants themselves will be minimal, most likely nil. However the outcome from my research, I am hoping, may help us all in regards to the auditioning process.

References

https://www.bera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011.pdf

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-7-security/

http://www.iep.utm.edu/virtue/