Ethics of Working with Humans

There is a right way and wrong way to go about research. Ethical practices are important for research to ensure the trust of a participant and for the accuracy of data. For example, when running a trial in a lab, it is important to always be professional. The idea of professional varies from person to person, but generally, this means proper attire, a level of knowledge and respect for the participant. This means leaving judgment outside of the lab and personal stories and conversation to a minimum. An example that was shared today in the ethical training I attended was about someone sharing a highly offensive joke with a fellow RA while a participant was performing a task. The participant overheard the laughter and assumed the RA’s were laughing at them and this compromised the data and made the participant rather uncomfortable. Avoiding this is vital in order to successfully respect the participant and the study as a whole.