Ethics in health research

Research ethics has played a crucial part in health research(Israel 2016; Tolich 2016a; Christians 2018; Gray 2018; Banks 2019; Portney 2020). Due to many abusive events in the historical past, ethical and moral issues are major elements that health researchers must consider. Ethical issues must be considered throughout the research process and continue afterwards as research and its outcomes may have a lasting effect on research participants. Ethical considerations need to be an ongoing part of research: they should be part of planning the research, during the research, and after research has been completed. In health research, it is essential that we take serious consideration of ethical issues since our research requires the involvement of other people (research participants) for us to obtain new knowledge which can have a significant influence on their health, well-being and lives. Thus, it is the responsibility of researchers to warrant that research participants are treated with respect and their well-being and safety are protected (Portney 2020). In the process of conducting research, how can we be sure that we, as researchers, are acting morally or ethically? What are the rules for conducting research so that the research participants will not be harmed? How can we protect the research participants? These are some of the important questions that can be answered by research ethics, the subject matter of this chapter.