Social Science Questions

Running head: SOCIAL SCIENCE QUESTIONS
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Social Science Questions
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SOCIAL SCIENCE QUESTIONS 2
Social Science Questions
1. Why do the NHMRC guidelines for conducting ethical research exist?
NHMRC is an abbreviation for the national health and medical research council. The
council provides guidelines that can be applied by any research with human participants,
research governance participants as well as members of the ethical review bodies (Bowden,
Delfabbro, Room, Miller, & Wilson, 2014). The guidelines are developed by multidisciplinary
panels through evidence-based approach. In essence; they are a reflection of concerns and
attitudes of a community.
Generally, human interactions have some ethical dimensions. Ethical conduct however
involves doing things out of concern and respect for others. Countries like Canada, USA and
Australia receive funds from the government to fund their research projects. however, research
that involves human participants must be reviewed by a review board to ascertain they comply
with the ethical guidelines provided.in Australia for instance, the research council demands
compliance and review by the NHMRC (Turner, Harris, & Mazza, 2015).
Behavioral and physiological responses on human beings remain a theory until tested on
humans themselves. Similarly, behavioral programs’ effectiveness is evaluated by a group of
human participants. For instance, to know a drug’s reaction on humans, it must be tried in a
controlled trial on people. Many people value research on human participants as beneficial to the
society, however, there are critics as well (Forbes, Creamer, Bisson, Cohen, Crow, Foa, &
Ursano, 2010). Research participants are vulnerable as they depend on the researchers for their
psychological and physical protection. Researchers in some instances have abused their research

SOCIAL SCIENCE QUESTIONS 3
subject’s privileges thus unethical research (Turner, Harris, & Mazza, 2015). Therefore, any
research conducted to the human participant’s detriment is of great concern.
The NHMRC provides published guidelines and has a system of review of research ethics
in Australia. The first statement on human experiment by the NHMRC was published in 1966
which has then been followed by a series of reviews. Before the NHMRC funds any research,
approval is required from the institutional ethics committee. Regardless of a research discipline
or source of funding, the NHMRC standards have become important institutional limits for
researchers (Loff, 2011). The purpose of these guidelines is to promote good ethical research by
ensuring the participants are accorded protection and respect they deserve. By following the
guideline, it helps those conducting the research identify ethical issues in the research design,
meet the set responsibilities as well as justify decisions about the ethical issues arising. These
guidelines reduce waste, prevent harm and also promote health thus promoting integrity and
ethical conduct in research. For instance, ethics protects children under age of 18 years from
being included in research as they may not be able to make informed consent. Additionally,
ethics helps avoid biasness and conflict when dealing with people of different races or people of
indigenous it is required that at studies include at least a participant from each side for
representation.
“Do not harm” is one of the principles by the commission to the researchers. Secondly,
the principle of maximizing benefits and minimize possible harms also applies. In a case of
apparent harm, the researcher must protect the participants. Care must be taken to protect
children, vulnerable, mentally ill and dependent persons in research (Hillier, Grimmer-Somers,
Merlin, Middleton, Salisbury, Tooher, & Weston, 2011). The commission considers autonomy as
the principle of respect of persons. It emphasizes the need for voluntary consent. A person is free