Belmont Report Ethics

Ethical issues

Regardless of which qualitative method is chosen for the school-approved topic, case study or generic, the overall goal is achieving scientific merit, the ethical quality of the study (Parse, 2016). Scientific merit includes the appropriateness of the research design for the topic and field or discipline, transparency and honesty in reporting of the findings, implications, research design (Parse, 2016). Ethical issues and considerations are uniform for any of the qualitative research methods. The Belmont Report outlines three basic principles for human research; respect for persons, Beneficence, and Justice (“The Belmont report,” 2016). The principles are in place to protect the individuals participating in a study (“The Belmont

Respect for Persons is the principle that is based on two ethics: “individuals should be treated as autonomous agents and “persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection” (“The Belmont report,” 2016). The principle also had two moral requirements: “the requirement to acknowledge autonomy and the requirement to protect those with diminished autonomy” (“The Belmont report,” 2016). The principle Beneficence is “Persons are treated in an ethical manner not only by respecting their decisions and protecting them from harm, but also by making efforts to secure their well-being” (“The Belmont report,” 2016). There are two rules within the principle Beneficence: “do not harm and maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms” (“The Belmont report,” 2016). The final principle, Justice, is everyone is treated fair and equal (“The Belmont report,” 2016). To further define justice, the Belmont Report outlines 5 formulas: “to each person an equal share; to each person according to individual need; to each person according to individual effort; to each person according to societal contribution; and to each person according to merit (“The

Conflict of interest also poses a threat for this study. Capella University defines Conflict of interest as “a situation in which academic, financial, or other personal interests have the potential, either actual or apparent, to directly and significantly compromise an individual’s or group’s professional judgment or objectivity in designing, conducting, reviewing, or reporting research” (Conflict of Interest in Research, 2008; Sanjari, Bahramnezhad, Fomani, Shoghi, & Cheraghi, 2014). This study will involve foster parents from different localities within the eastern part of Virginia. Initially the plan was to include foster parents of the same locality where I am employed. To avoid possible conflicts of interest, this study will current or past city of Newport News Department of Human Services’ foster parents. I determined this may impact how foster parents may share their experiences due to the established relationships prior to the study. It is important to address all ethical issues, challenges and considerations minimizing any risks to the participants, especially venerable populations, of the study in order to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. An IRB sole purpose is the protection of human subjects of research (“The Belmont report,”