What is my ethical parameter for doing my inquiry?

Most researchers, nowadays, tend to only consider the plagiarism as an unethical matter when conducting a research. Barnes(1979), on the contrary, defines the ethical parameter as a ‘standard applied during decision making whether to prefer efficiency and conformity or ethic.’ When the research result is affected heavily, researchers tend to prefer efficiency and conformity rather than the ethic. Even though our research is mostly focused on the object, ‘Jeepney’, the ethical matters are also concerned.

             The attitude that we should avoid the most is bias or prejudice. Conducting a research weights the responsibility on the researchers. The bias and the prejudice that we impose on our research process, position, and conclusion might marginalize the opposition group or some people. Even though our research analytical framework indicates that the nationalism, hybridity of culture, and struggle for national identity led to the survival of Jeepney, we would also open for the idea of conformity and acceptable price which also led to the existence of Jeepney on contemporary period of time. In order to conduct the true research, we would like to set the open-mindedness on conducting a research. Second ethical parameter is helpfulness. Our purpose of conducting a research is not to harm any group of people such as Jeepney manufacturers, drivers, or commuters, or government officials. The eagerness to discover the fact on the birth and the survival of Jeepney would require our research as accurate as possible.

             The best researchers are not those who conclude new fact of knowledge but those who ethically processed, positioned, and concluded on the research topic. Like the honor that has been bought could not ever last, the research that has been finalized by violating the ethics would not be honored or worthy. We would set and strictly follow the ethical parameter, because only through this, in my belief, the outstanding research paper can be realized.

REFERENCE

Burnham, P., Lutz, K. G., Grant, W., & Layton-Henry, Z. (2008). Research Methods in Politics. New York: Palgrave.