Dissertation and Ethics and Social Change

As graduate students, you are responsible for designing and conducting research that is ethical in all aspects. Your course text, Surviving Your Dissertation describes the critical norms for conducting ethical research: (a) Validity of the research, (b) competency of the researcher, (c) beneficence of the research, (d) special populations, and (e) informed consent (pp. 275–276). Some of these norms arose from the scrutiny of well-known controversial, unethical studies.

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Your course text Research Methods for Public Administrators describes three “illustrative cases” in Chapter 8: (a) The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is a classic example of the violation of the Nuremberg principles. (b) Another well-known example of deceptive research and a lack of protection of subjects’ privacy is Humphrey’s study on gay men. (c) The final example of deception in research is the Milgram study on participants’ level of obedience in harming others. You may wish to investigate all three of these studies more thoroughly.

In this Discussion, you will examine the role of the IRB, your responsibilities for ensuring that you design an ethical study, and the ways in which you can reduce or eliminate ethical challenges. To prepare for this Discussion, review the Dissertation and Ethics resources listed for the week.

Post by Day 3 in the following ways:

Explain the role of the IRB
Explain ethical problems you might experience if you were to conduct research on your identified topic of research.
Analyze the impact of these potential ethical challenges. How might participants be affected, for example?
Devise ways you might address these ethical challenges to the IRB to ensure integrity in the research process.
Analyze the ethical values you hold that underlie your response.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

Respond by Day 6 to at least of at least two of your colleagues who have not yet had a reply, in any of the following ways:

Address the content of your colleagues’ analyses of their ethical challenges and how they may address these challenges.
Explain insights you gained into your own research process by considering your colleagues’ postings on the ethical challenges posed in their research.

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Your Discussion 2 posts focused on the implications for social change and the significance of the study. All research of quality and rigor must address these issues: Why is the research worth doing? What can be learned? Who will it benefit and how? It is important to refine your statements on this topic, in order that they can be incorporated into your Prospectus. You will be required to address these issues in your Proposal and the rest of your Dissertation, as well. Although one might expect any study to reflect these concerns, this is especially important in the School of Public Policy and Administration, and at Walden University, given the mission, vision, goal, and positive social change commitments you read earlier.

**Using the Dissertation Prospectus Guide, refine this week’s Discussion 2 post that describes the significance of your proposed study. In what ways would your study advance knowledge, practice, or policy, and lead to positive social change?***

After completing this section, in the order of required components of the Prospectus, you have now covered the title, problem statement, overall purpose of the study, significance, background, and theoretical framework.

(The Dissertation draft is in the word document and instruction)