Introduction to human communication:
Research involving human participation involves complexities some of which are explained by the use of various approaches in research and the fact that human characteristics are different. It is due to these reasons that general principles are formulated to guide researchers when carrying out research with human participation.
In a research situation where employees are required to participate with any failure resulting to retaliation by management, does not comply with the general principles of ethical research. Employees are forced to participate in the study in which case unwillingness to participate may limit the results of the study. Employees may not be free to express their true opinions and may only participate to avoid the retaliation from management.
Researchers should ensure that participation by employees is voluntary and they must be given all the information necessary to enable them make an informed decision on whether to participate or not. Employees must be made aware of information about any threat or injury that they may face due to the research which can either be physical or psychological. Researchers should also ensure that employees to do not face any harm that is beyond the ordinary life.
Employees should be protected from harm by ensuring that information provided to the researchers is treated with confidentiality and that employees are kept anonymous throughout the study. In this case, employees should be protected from any retribution from management. Where some of the research information is not provided to the employees before the study, a debrief session should be carried out to ensure that the employee’s understanding of the research is complete.
This situation could be improved by ensuring that employees make a voluntary and conscious decision on whether to participate in the study. They should be given all the information necessary to make this decision. The research may be carried out by independent researchers who should ensure confidentiality and anonymity of the participants.
References
Sales, B. D., & Folkman, S. (2000). Ethics in research with human participants. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association.
