According to C.S Lewis, “Integrity is doing the right thing, when no one is looking.”
Research integrity includes, “The use of honest and verifiable methods in proposing, performing and evaluating research; reporting research results with particular attention to adherence to rules, regulations, guidelines and following commonly accepted professional codes or norms (“What is Integrity?”, 2018). The NAS report definition is of research integrity is, “An aspect of moral character and experience. It involves above all a commitment to intellectual honesty and personal responsibility for ones actions and to a range of practices that characterise responsible research conduct (“Chapter 1 – Research Integrity”, 2018)”. This means that to have integrity while conducting research one has to set aside personal bias, and moral differences, and aligns with the institutional, national and international policies in order to objectively come to a conclusion which is trustworthy. Physiotherapy research would therefore have to abide by the human rights of the patient, the rules and policies of the practice as well as the national and international laws and policies pertaining to physiotherapy.
In order to have research integrity one should try to research a particular field objectively, without exploitation, plagiarism and bias. Exploitation is the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work (2018). In regards to research exploitation can also refer to the participation of a sample. When performing research, it is important to not put the research over the well being of others. The implementation of the research project should not conflict with the laws and regulations of the researcher or the sample. When looking into research performed in the health science field, it is important that the rights of the patient are always abided by. Research integrity could be lost when a patient is not informed of the study and the risks thereof. The patient who is being used in research should be knowledgeable about existing practices in order to make an informed decision prior to partaking in the study. Integrity of research is lost when for example, in order to obtain a larger sample a practitioner, “sells” the idea of partaking in the research.
In conclusion, to obtain integrity of research one should objectively comment on existing literature of different viewpoints and evaluate all methods of data collection and implementation.
Bibliography:
What is Research Integrity?. (2018). Retrieved from https://grants.nih.gov/grants/research_integrity/whatis.htm
Chapter 1 – Research Integrity. (2018). Retrieved from https://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/ucla/chapter1/page02.htm
(2018). Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/exploitation
2 thoughts on “Integrity in Research- Tessa Preen”
I found this piece to be thought provoking, and was able to see that a large amount of time went into writing it, due to the large amount of research done. The first paragraph is highly informative and gives the reader a clear image of what research integrity is from the literature articles you found. Your first paragraph is well referenced due to the constant in- text referencing used.
However throughout your second paragraph you have made a large amount of statements but have not backed it up, such as, “The implementation of the research project should not conflict with the laws and regulations of the researcher or the sample.” It is important that you back this up with literature so that the individual reading it is able to know that this is not just your personal opinion.
Here is a link of an article which discusses research integrity and what it means to have integrity both as an individual and a company while conducing research. This may help with backing up your second paragraph.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2660/480fd9bf6681c448f43767fffb3e2c11b9fe.pdf
I hope that this feed back is helpful and will help you to strengthen your piece where needed.
I would really like to commend you on the level of work that you have produced. In particular, the part in the first paragraph from “The NAS report definition is of research integrity…” and I would like to add some additional information to that. I totally agree with the statement made about research integrity having an aspect of moral character, but I think that it is also essential to identify and understand that research integrity itself is emphasising the commitment of each researcher as well as that researcher’s ability to follow a specific set of practises and norms that have been previously identified. This will therefore assist in ensuring that the researcher is conducting themselves appropriately throughout the entire research study, rather than having their primary focus being on the end result (Meriste et al., 2016).
Interestingly, in order for the integrity within a study to be maintained, it is important to look at the integrity of the individual researcher as well. In an article written by Meriste, et al., (2016), it divides up one’s individual integrity into a general formation of one’s integrity that takes their actions, convictions and beliefs into consideration, as well as a more specific type of integrity that includes professional integrity. General integrity has been divided into two main strands that affects the consistency of one’s integrity and that is firstly, the consistency of one’s set values and secondly, the consistency seen between the researchers values and their actions (Meriste et al., 2016).
These are important things to look at when considering how it could impact you when going into research, so, in saying that, how would you go about ensuring that your own individual integrity can be maintained and as well as the integrity of the research? What are some ways of maintaining research integrity before or leading up to the implementation phase of your study?
Thank you for linking the literature on research integrity with that of a practical illustration, you could possibly have provided a stronger link between your own personal clinical practise experience or difficulties you may have had at times to ensure that the integrity of the research is always maintained. I think that is was indeed a well written piece. Please give the article I have attached in the link below – I found it helpful in my research into this topic.
Meriste, H., Parder, M., Lõuk, K., Simm, K., Lilles-Heinsar, L., & Veski, L. et al. (2016). Promoting Integrity as an Integral Dimension of Excellence in Research: Normative analysis of research integrity and misconduct. Printeger. Retrieved from https://printeger.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/D2.3.pdf