James Bryan Alagon

BS ME

END CHAPTER QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 3

1. Define ethics
- Ethics in research is simply the known as the rules to be followed by a researcher when making
a research. Research ethics is very important especially when the research involves human
subjects or participants, the researcher must need to know what are the potential harms that
might pop out when conducting the research, and throughout the research process. And also
the risks of the human subjects when conducting the research.
2. Name and briefly explain six key ethical issues.
a. Do no harm – the researcher must acknowledge all the risks that might arise when he/she
is conducting the research that involves human subjects. Then after that, the researcher
should think of how that harm might be avoided. The researcher is needed to ‘do no harm’
with his/her participants when conducting a research.
b. Integrity – the value of every aspect of the research project is established by the integrity
of the researcher. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles does
make a research a perfect one. The main idea of the research should be intact with each
other and should be whole and undivided so the readers would not be confused, so as
the researcher too.
c. Plagiarism – one of the most serious offence in making a research. All the researchers
should essentially understand the meaning of plagiarism. The researchers must know how
to reference the ideas that they have collected to other research projects. When the
researchers used the referencing properly, plagiarism is completely circumvented.
d. Validity – The most fundamental critique levelled at research projects. The research
project must be valid, and to be valid, the research must make a contribution to
knowledge. The researcher also check the evidence if they are valid for a research project.
The validity of research is a question of how truthful, logical, reasonable, and meaningful
the research is.
e. Power – every researcher, undergraduates, postgraduates or professional, should
critically examine their engagement with their research project in terms of their own
power as a researcher. They should be aware that the power they have can change many
lives or can change the whole world. They should be more careful and cautious because
someday the research they are conducting might have a potential powerful effect in the
field of research.
f. Transparency – when the researcher is conducting the research project, the researcher
must have an openness and transparency. If the researcher can communicate to the
participants that are involved in the research project clearly, truthfully and honestly, the
researcher will completely know the risks that might arise when conducting a research.
Before they become harmful to the people, the researcher should think how to neutralize
the risks.
3. What is meant by the term ethical reflections?
- It is a powerful tool to that helps an individual to develop a respect for the other people
concern. Ethical reflections can help the student from being morally aware, having an
understanding of virtues and how to apply them in a particular situations. The students can
also be able to take the perspective of others. It is also can make the students to reason
morally, having self-knowledge, and also for making thoughtful moral decisions.
4. How does one become reflexive practitioner?
- Every researcher must be an “ethically reflective practitioner” which the researcher must
simply think critically about the standard of their research and how they will conduct it, and
also of their code of conduct and behaviors as a researcher. As an undergrad researcher, I
should practice the process of reflexivity, practicing this process when making a research will
help an undergrad researcher a lot for they are supervised by the other superior researchers
and also will make the most of every opportunity available to them for supervision and giving
of feedbacks.
5. Name and explain two ethical concerns in each step of the research process.
a. Identify and develop your topic
o Integrity and Honesty– the researcher must be whole in making research title, the
title must be whole and pointing one direction only. It should be clear and concise for
the readers won’t be confuse.
o Validity – the title of the research should be valid for publication, the researcher
should his/her superior when making a title. For it is the most important part of the
research.
b. Do a preliminary search for information
o Validity – the sources and evidences must be valid when used in research for the
research provides knowledge to people. The sources must be true and has many
proofs.
o Confidentiality – the researcher should be aware for the anonymity of the
respondents and also the protection of sensitive information for gathering the data.
c. Locate materials
o Legality – the researcher should always be aware of the rules, laws, and regulations
in the field of research and also he/she should follow it.
o Openness – the researcher must be open for all the data, he/she must not be biased
when gathering it. The researcher should also be open new ideas and criticisms.
d. Evaluate your sources
o Validity – the quality of the data should be reliable and truthful
o Transparency – to avoid potential harms the research must be conducted with
openness and transparency. The researcher must be clear, truthful, and open when
gathering the data
e. Make notes
o Integrity – the information the researcher have written should be true and clear for
the readers can trust it.
o Carefulness – the researcher must review the work critically and carefully to avoid
any mistakes.
f. Write your paper
o Objectivity – when writing the research body, the researcher should not be bias. The
researcher should be fair in both sides of the advantages and disadvantages of the
topic, it should be discussed properly and equally.
o Power – the research must have the power to educate the readers. The power of
knowledge where there are a lot of ideas and information that are need to discussed
properly and critically.
g. Cite your sources properly
o Respect for Intellectual Property – the researcher should never plagiarize or copy
other works. Always ask for permission when using other people’s work. And also
learn to use reference for be able to avoid plagiarism.
o Validity – the source should be legal and valid to public. The sources should be
truthful, meaningful, reasonable, and clear.
h. Proofread
o Carefulness – the researcher must checked all what have he/she created. Read the
texts and check for any errors in grammar or spelling. Also make sure that the
information are cited properly.
o Integrity - The main idea of the research should be intact with each other and should
be whole and undivided so the readers would not be confused, so as the researcher
too. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles does make a
research a perfect one.
CHAPTER 4

1. What is meant by the term philosophical framework in relation to social research?

- The Philosophical framework is also called the philosophy of education. It is simply making
the data more critical than it seems to the readers. It develops the data of the research project
for the readers to understand it deeply and clearly.
2. Name and briefly explain three philosophical frameworks used in social research.
a. Positivism – is a philosophical framework that depicts only authentic knowledge and that
knowledge is supported by science only. It shows only the concreteness of the idea and that
idea can only come from theories through scientific method.
b. Interpretivism – is one of qualitative methodology that all knowledge is a matter of
interpretation only. It also relies from the researcher and its human participants as the tool
to calculate some scenarios just only the observation and interviews.
c. Feminism – the main goal of this philosophical framework is to emphasize the importance of
women from the life of men and also they should be equal regardless to their natural
differences.
3. What is quantitative data?
- The quantitative data is basically the gathered data using statistical, mathematical, or
computational methods. Quantitative research method also used to determine the trends in
opinions and thoughts of the respondents and might dive deeper into the problem of the
research.
4. What is qualitative data?
- The qualitative data is acquired by the researcher by only observing the subject and collecting
non-numerical data. It seeks only deeper understandings of social phenomena within their
nature. It is said that the qualitative research method focuses on the “why” than the “what”
of social phenomena.
5. Give an example of how simple and concise qualitative data can be coded numerically.
- When coding the qualitative data numerically, the researcher should gather all the
questionnaire results and the interview transcripts and make a table for it. The researcher
should review the entire data so the researcher will find a pattern to begin with. After that,
the researcher will make a code table that is accessible for other researchers.
6. Explain why the numerical coding of qualitative data can be inappropriate.
- Coding the qualitative data into a numerical one is hard to do. Qualitative data only answer
why questions, most of it are written in paragraph form so the readers will understand it more
rather than it is coded numerically, because it might lose richness, depth and complexity
through numerical coding. Some qualitative research can be converted to quantitative
depending on the topic. The researcher will only collect the results of the questionnaire or
the survey then tally it, and make a table.
7. Explain the limits of research developed without a theoretical base.
- The research is limited because it did not appear from a theoretical framework, it is not
supported by a particular body of knowledge. Without the theoretical framework, the
research cannot make a contribution to the broad debate. All researches must be connected
to a theory, and when the research is embedded to a theory, which is the time when the
research makes a contribution to the body of theory in that field.
8. Explain what is meant by the statement concepts are the building blocks of theory.
- Concepts are key ideas, key words in an idea. It is created from different concepts from the
way in which different concepts are grouped together or aligned. Developing concepts from
another concepts is not that too easy, it is very complex process of creation, reflection, and
development.
9. Briefly explain the process of developing theory, as detailed in this chapter.
- Theory come from concepts, which concepts also develop the body of knowledge, to develop
old concepts, to create new concepts. Concepts which are developed and created and
grouped with another concepts are the means which theories are created. Concepts are the
building blocks of theory. Theorizing data is a process of establishing how your data fits with
the theory in the field. The researcher will establish where and how the gathered data
supports and at the same time contradicts the theory in the literature. In order to theorize,
the researcher must be knit in his/her information into the information of published research.
10. Explain why it is necessary to engage with the literature before making final decisions regarding
the focus of the research project.
- It is necessary to engage first with the literature before making final decision the focus of the
research project because the researcher must gather all the data he/she could in a span of
time. The researcher must read a lot of articles, on the web or in a book, so the researcher
can strengthen the research and support it. Just read and read and read and there you will
realize many things that can help you conduct your research.