A Study: Social Media Marketing and Employee Recruitment in UK

This report investigates the impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment within the UK recruitment industry, focusing on Regent Care Services as a case study. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of social media strategies, such as reduced recruitment time and cost savings, while also addressing challenges like incomplete information and privacy concerns. The research analyzes the positive effects of social media marketing on Regent Care Services, including attracting a larger pool of qualified applicants and building brand trust. Furthermore, the report identifies challenges faced by recruitment agencies due to ineffective social media strategies and recommends measures to improve them. The study aims to understand how social media can be leveraged to enhance employee recruitment, providing valuable insights for both recruitment agencies and organizations seeking to optimize their hiring processes.

A study on the impact of social media
marketing on employee recruitment in
recruitment industry in the UK
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
The advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing strategies in recruiting
employees in the recruitment industry of UK........................................................................5
Impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment at Regent Care Services..........7
Challenges faced by Regent care services on employee recruitment due to ineffective social
media marketing strategies.....................................................................................................8
Measures to improvise social media marketing strategies for enhancing employee recruitment
in Regent Care Services..........................................................................................................9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
Appendix .......................................................................................................................................15
Research Ethics approval form.............................................................................................15
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INTRODUCTION
Social media is emerging as important tool for the people who are seeking job and for the
organisations and agencies who want to recruit employees. Social media recruiting is a strategy
that connects elements of recruitment marketing and employer branding to attract and connect
passive and active applicants on the different online platforms they frequently use. Recruitment
of qualified and talented employees involve various activities not just posting a vacancy to pages
of careers and waiting for applicant to take the job. For hiring best employee the companies have
to go before the qualified employees wherever they go and nowadays it means social media.
Social media marketing is used by organisations to promote their vacant position and can be
filled with qualified and talented employees. For that various channels of social media are used
because mostly people are active there. Companies operating in United Kingdom are using
different channels of social media to recruit, hire and attract qualified employees but some
companies in UK take help from recruitment agencies to hire employees for them as it helps in
saving costs. These recruitment agencies depend upon the different channels of social media to
attract the apt candidates for organisations who rely upon them. They also use various various
marketing techniques and tools other than different channels of social media.
Background of a company
Regent care services is a leading agencies which recruit employees in United Kingdom.
Basically they are involved in activities of recruiting and hiring employees for the sector of
health. The company is taking assistance of social media to hire employees in health sector. This
agency uses uses and provides information related to the social media marketing strategies for
employee recruitment. They provide services to organisations which help them saving money
which is not necessary. Their team members involve in activities which pre screen candidates as
per the requirement of companies and organisations. They select employees for companies who
have apt experiences and qualifications. They work within the limit of legal and policy standards
and they continuously monitor the services given by their team to organisations.
Rationale
The prime reason for conducting this research is to know the impact of social media
marketing on employee recruitment in recruitment industry in the United Kingdom and
challenges faced by recruitment agencies on employee recruitment due to ineffective social
media marketing strategies. This research assists in understanding the different social media
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strategies to attract large number of qualified employees. There are two other benefits from two
perspectives: personal and professional perspective. In respect of personal perspective, this
research help me in identifying various social media marketing strategies which is necessary for
updating my knowledge and in respect of professional perspective these strategies would assist
me in applying such techniques in my professional career where I have to apply strategies to
recruit and hire employees in an organisation. These social media marketing strategies are very
useful for organisations to attract top talented and qualified employees because in this generation
candidates are more active on social media.
Research Aim and Objectives
Research Aim
“ To study the impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment in recruitment
industry of UK.” A study on Regent Care Services
Research Objectives
 To assess the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing strategies in
recruiting employees in the recruitment industry of UK.
 To analyse the impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment at Regent Care
Services.
 To identify the challenges faced by Regent care services on employee recruitment due to
ineffective social media marketing strategies.
 To recommend measures to improvise social media marketing strategies for enhancing
employee recruitment in Regent Care Services.
Research Questions
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing strategies in
recruiting employees in the recruitment industry in the UK?
 What is the impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment at Regent Care
Services?
 What are the challenges faced by Regent care services on employee recruitment due to
ineffective social media marketing strategies?
 What are the measures to improvise social media marketing strategies for enhancing
employee recruitment in Regent Care Services?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review refers to the chapter which gives existing knowledge, allows researcher
to identify accurate theories, gaps and methods in the current research. For collecting accurate
information related to the current research topic various sources are considered like books,
journals, articles and publications. The gathered data assists in fulfilment of research objectives
and goals within a time. This chapter helps in collecting reliable and relevant information in an
effective manner to attain objectives of the research without creating any barrier and completing
research with the given period of time.
The advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing strategies in recruiting employees
in the recruitment industry of UK
According to Straus and et. Al, (2016), large number of populations are engaged in
various social sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram so they are used by many
recruitment industry present in UK. Recruitment agencies are using sites of social media to
recruit future employees and it is increasing at a very great rate. Social media marketing
strategies are used so that at one time large number of people get information regarding the
vacant job positions. Many people also use accounts of social media to showcase their work,
experience, personality and interest. There are some advantages and disadvantages of social
media marketing strategies in recruiting employees in the recruitment industry of UK which are
explained below:
Some of the advantages are:
 Reduction in time for recruiting agencies: Earlier traditional recruitment process used
to be long for everyone which include organisation, recruitment agency and employees.
Social media marketing strategies assist agencies to provide details of vacant jobs in
various channels through which candidates apply for the job according to their
qualification. These strategies help in targeting large number of people at a single time.
With these strategies agencies also get to know the information about candidates on
social media because on these sites people are more upfront and can get more accurate
information related to the applicant.
 Candidates can be ruled out: With the strategies of social media for recruiting
employees, agencies simply rule out candidates by their posts of social media before the
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process of hiring and interview. By the use of social media strategies agencies get many
alternatives and from that they get right and apt candidate for organisation.
 Larger qualified employees: These social media sites attract larger number of talented
candidates as people can apply from anywhere in the world for that particular job. This
also opens the channels and options for recruitment agencies to search and find apt
talented employee.
 Savings in budget: Using social media strategies assist recruitment agencies to save
large amount from budget. Because these agencies do not need extra employees for hiring
process and they do not need to make expenses in other ways for recruiting employees.
And there is no extra expenditures in copying and printing because every process is done
online.
Some of the disadvantages are:
 Social media sites are might not that great: Social media sites sometimes are not that
great in attracting qualified and talented candidates because candidates feel that these
opportunities are not real so they do not apply. Sometimes recruiting agency also judge
employees by their social media accounts which is not right.
 Privacy concerns: Recruitment agencies use social media accounts of candidates but for
some people it is not right they feel their personal information is used by other people.
Using basic information of candidates for recruitment might be fair for recruitment
agencies but not for that particular candidate. They have shared information in public
sites but they do not want other people to use.
 Information are not always accurate: While posting about the details of vacant job by
recruitment agencies might not be full information and sometimes candidates
misunderstand the information. This brings chaos and confusion which become the
barrier for agencies to get qualified candidate.
 Applicants who are of low quality: By social media strategies employees are recruited
from different places so they belong from different cultures so all the talent are not same
and the agency gets lower quality employees if they do not conduct the process of vetting
in a proper and systematic way. These differences occur when employees start their
employment journey and then starts the chaos and confusion.
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Impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment at Regent Care Services
According to Aggerholm and Andersen (2018), organisations and recruitment agencies
require to be wherever applicants and candidates are there in respect to engage them in process
of recruitment. The contact with the applicants with social media marketing are quite convenient,
fast, effective and cost saving. The methods of social media marketing are best to replace
traditional way of recruitment. It also helps in building positive relationship among potential
candidates or applicants. Social media marketing are heavily considered by organisations and
recruitment agencies filter out talented applicant.
 Reduction in cost: Sourcing of applicants through social media strategies by Regent
care services is quite cost-effective in comparison to old method recruitment. Making
accounts in social media are easy and free, it does not need any expense to make
account. Traditional recruitment methods like television, billboards and magazines need
a large amount of investment and it is hoped that maximum applicants get attract by
seeing advertisements through these channels. Forum and blogs on social media are very
low cost for communicating and advertising vacant job positions to reach maximum
number of applicants around the world. Regent Care services takes maximum benefit of
internet and social media to attract candidates without doing high expense for
recruitment.
 Saving time: Hiring candidates by making accounts on social media help in saving time
of Regent Care Services as it gives out them option of filtering preferences and
requirements from the candidate. Generally recruitment agency uses these social media
strategies to check the background of candidates like their prior experience and many
more. These practices help Regent Care Services to save time because it determines the
character check of candidate.
 Large pool of qualified applicants: Regent Care Services hire employees through
various strategies of social media which assist in attracting great talented and qualified
employees than organisations who adopt other programs of recruitment. It is believed
that people who use social media are more tech savvy, creative and innovative. Regent
care services have made its good image about their brand on social media which has
created trust among candidates in United Kingdom. They target those candidates who are
more qualified for the vacant job positions.
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So, it is identified from above given information that there is positive impact of social media
marketing on employee recruitment at Regent Care Services because it helps in attracting large
number of candidates who are more qualified for the organisations as per their need and
requirement. With these agencies get skilled workforce and who have knowledge regarding
technology.
Challenges faced by Regent care services on employee recruitment due to ineffective social
media marketing strategies
According to while there are various benefits of social media marketing strategies to
Regent Care Services as they hire talented employees but there are also some challenges that are
faced by Regent Care Services due to ineffective social media marketing strategies which are
explained below:
 Incomplete information: Regent Care Services uses Twitter to advertise their vacant job
positions and responsibilities. As it is identified that this social media restricts
recruitment agency to use words more than 140, so it creates issue that the agency is not
able to post every detail about their expectations from the candidate. Because of that
important information are not included and it misguide and give incomplete information
to the potential candidate.
 Issues related to Facebook: It is one of the social media marketing strategies of Regent
Care Services but many people use it only for the purpose of communicating and talking
with relatives and friends. So many people are unwilling to involve in professional tasks
like recruitment and hiring on Facebook. So because of that it becomes difficult for the
company to attract talented employees for other organisations and the information
updated by candidate is not always right which makes difficult to hire genuine client.
 Problems related to LinkedIn: Although LinkedIn is quite effective for Regent Care
Services as it is adopted this as one of their strategies for recruitment but it takes so much
time to incorporate and build networks and relationship with the maximum number of
qualified candidates or applicants. It also restricts company from using emails of the
people as limits are set by the user. The another disadvantage is it does not allow
company to send messages to applicant if they are not connected with them.
 Lack of accuracy: Candidates who are seeking job do not share their whole information
as they hide details or deactivate their social media accounts with the intention of not
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searched by organisations or recruitment agencies. So employers do not get accurate and
relevant information about the applicant which is useful for them and recruitment
companies give importance to those employees who share their whole information
relevant to the vacant position in a company.
 Bias decisions by human: Selecting candidates through screens create assumptions and
opinions about that particular candidate which is completely wrong because judging
someone just by their basic details are not right. The recruiters also select employees
according to their favouritism for specific client. All these reasons make Regent Care
Services to not recruit more diverse employees.
 Intrusive: Some people argue that making decisions of recruitment by just looking at the
applicant's profile on social media is breaking their privacy because their accounts on
social media do not represent their true professionalism because on these accounts they
update things about personal life other than their professional life. So it becomes for
recruitment company to evaluate and examine people other than their presence on social
media accounts. This process becomes complex for recruiters and consume their
significant resources like time and their hard work.
Measures to improvise social media marketing strategies for enhancing employee recruitment in
Regent Care Services
According to Borah and et. al, (2020), organisations and recruiting companies use social
media recruiting strategy but they lack at some point so they become unable to hire talented and
qualified employees. Some ways are explained below to improve the social media marketing
strategies for enhancing employee recruitment in Regent Care Service:
 Taking part in apt conversations: The best way to hire on social media is to eliminate
company from noise and search the right candidates. Making groups in LinkedIn and
maximising usage of hashtags are really great methods to put the openings related to
vacant jobs in front of applicant who want to apply for that particular job.
 Promoting organisation's culture: Social media are more than that simply posting
about the vacant job responsibilities and roles. Regent Care Services should share and
communicate content related to the organisation for they are recruiting employees by
simply sharing that this particular organisation is great for working which would attract
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candidates organically. And candidates like to join those organisations which have
different cultures so this type of information gets more shares.
 Include every employee: Regent Care Services should create power of social media in
their workplace. They must encourage their whole staff to communicate and share about
all the vacant openings on social media. They should involve views of employees who
have worked for the same organisation because it would give answers to the curiosity of
applicant.
 Assist to grow presence of social media: Regent Care Services should try to make and
increase person to person connections with applicant and should identify best social
media practices and usage of social media accounts on a daily basis.
 Completed information: Regent Care Services should make their page of company
with full details and information on LinkedIn which gives an opportunity of showing
culture of a company. People who are searching for job may find about the potential
openings and know about the organisation whatever they want to know.
 Usage of filters: There are many people who are active on LinkedIn, Facebook and
Twitter. The recruitment agency should be able to find candidates by using filter options
because through this companies can search candidate by past and current organisation,
locations, experience time period and various other factors that assist recruitment
company to choose right applicant and candidates.
 Reaching candidates with personal touches: Talented and experienced candidates
hear many things about the recruiters on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The
recruitment agency should should not copy same message to all people they are trying to
make connection with. They should mention about the quality of applicants that have
caught their attention and the things that have made them think they are great for a
company.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology defined as chapter which tells what type of data has to be
collected and what type of data should not be collected for achieving the objective of the
research. It assists in designing the research in a systematic and proper manner with the different
type of methods. These various types of methods are used to gather relevant, accurate and
significant information according to the particular study or research. Some of the methods that
are considered by researcher while conducting the research are: research approach, research
philosophy, research strategy, research choice and many more (Ragab and Arisha, 2018).
Research Approach: Research approach refers to the procedure which is taken by investigator
in respect of completing the research in a systematic manner. For completing the research,
investigator has to choose apt approach. Research approach has two types which include:
inductive and deductive. In respect of attaining the objectives of current research that is impact
of social media marketing strategies in recruiting employees by recruitment agencies, inductive
approach is chosen because it supports objective. The another cause of selecting this research is
it helps in measuring data qualitatively within a given period of time. It also gives clear
explanation about the relationship between variables and concepts. The advantages of using this
approach can be seen in future while analysing the information according to the objectives
(Daniel, 2018).
Research Philosophy: Research Philosophy refers to the conviction in which data is gathered by
investigator to achieve the predicted result or outcome. There are two kinds of examining ways
of reasoning according to the researcher that is required for the completion of research:
positivism and interpretivism. In respect of achieving objectives of current research,
interpretivism research philosophy is chosen because it is effective and organised method which
assist in easy analysis of the collected data. With this it also assists in measuring qualitative
information that is present in form of subjective. It is also scientific method where outcomes are
more in subjective form and not on general emotions. It also accommodates in taking apt
decisions and steps according to the situation of real time (Clarke and Visser, 2019).
Research Strategy: Research strategy refers to the strategy which is used by investigator to
gather and evaluate information according to the topic. By the help of effective strategy
researcher conducts the research in a right manner. For gathering data, researcher uses method of
survey because it assists in calculating right information in the direction of getting right
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outcomes. The motive of choosing survey as research strategy is because it assists in
accumulating opinions and views or raw information which is never taken out before. And these
information is gathered from the selected respondents and they provide their opinions and views
regarding the topic of the research. Researcher chooses interview in survey where 3 managers
are surveyed of Regent Care Services. With this researcher easily achieve objectives of the
investigation (Worthington and Bodie, 2017).
Research Choice: Research choice refers to the process where information is determined
according to the need of the research. These choices assist researcher to achieve desired
objectives and goals successfully. For every investigator it is necessary to choose right research
choice because it helps researcher to attain objectives and goals. Investigator has two types of
research choices generally they are called qualitative and quantitative. For attaining the
objectives of present investigation, investigator chooses qualitative research choice because it
accommodates in collecting accurate and relevant information needed to complete the research in
a systematic manner. This is done because the data is collected in a qualitative way as per the
need of research (Cuervo‐Cazurra and et. al, 2017).
Data Collection: Data collection refers to the procedure to measure, analyse and collect right
understanding for investigation using techniques that are valid. An investigator evaluates
hypothesis on the basis of gathered information. Data collection is the significant step for
investigation and field of investigation does not matter because it holds importance in every type
of research. Data collection has two types which are used by researcher to conduct research and
they are primary and secondary data collection. Primary data collection refers to the raw
information that is gathered from source which is first hand by the help of surveys, observations
and experiments. In order to attain objectives of research primary and secondary both are
considered by investigator. For this investigator chooses surveys where interview is chosen
employees as participants because the direct knowledge of the company they are working.
Secondary data collection is used to attain objectives of research and for that various sources are
used like books, magazines, publications and articles through these source existing data is
researched in-depth. The gathered information from these sources accommodate researcher to
have accurate and relevant data.
Time Horizon: Time horizon refers to the time required by the investigator to achieve the
objectives in effective and efficient manner. There are two types of time horizon: cross-sectional
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and longitudinal. Cross-sectional is adopted by the investigator because that assists in completing
required work in best manner. By the help of this researcher aims at achieving all the work
related to analysis and collection with the given duration of time. So it is determined that this
assists in choosing technique which is best for doing activities of research with minimum time
and facing without any issues. Longitudinal time horizon is not chosen by researcher because it
is used for studying people for more than single time in respect of answering questions of the
research. The another benefit with cross-sectional it assists in comparing multiple variables at the
single time.
Sampling: Sampling defined as the procedure of choosing a tiny sample from the total
population. But it is not convenient and possible to consider whole population as representative.
Because coordination of whole population is not possible in a practical manner. Sampling has
two kinds of methods: probability and non-probability sampling. For the need of current
research, non-probability sampling is chosen because it is most effective in selecting particular
sample as participants because it lets to select specific respondents according to meet the
objectives of a research. It is also great for getting qualitative information which is required to
attain required and needed goals of the research. Basically non probability sampling does not
give the equal opportunity and chance to all chosen members as participants. Whereas
probability sampling gives equal opportunity to all the members. For conducting research in an
effective manner researcher has selected 3 managers of Regent Care Services so that their
opinions can be generated and recorded for the fulfilment of research in an effective and efficient
way.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aggerholm, H.K. and Andersen, S.E., 2018. Social Media Recruitment 3.0: Toward a new
paradigm of strategic recruitment communication. Journal of Communication
Management.
Bairagi, V. and Munot, M.V. eds., 2019. Research methodology: A practical and scientific
approach. CRC Press.
Belinda, C.D., Westerman, J.W. and Bergman, S.M., 2018. Recruiting with ethics in an online
era: Integrating corporate social responsibility with social media to predict
organizational attractiveness. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 109. pp.101-117.
Borah and et. al, 2020. Improvised marketing interventions in social media. Journal of
Marketing. 84(2). pp.69-91.
Clarke, E. and Visser, J., 2019. Pragmatic research methodology in education: possibilities and
pitfalls. International Journal of Research & Method in Education. 42(5). pp.455-469.
Cooper, T., Stavros, C. and Dobele, A.R., 2019. Domains of influence: exploring negative
sentiment in social media. Journal of Product & Brand Management.
Cuervo‐Cazurra and et. al, 2017. Research methodology in global strategy research. Global
Strategy Journal. 7(3). pp.233-240.
Daniel, B.K., 2018. Reimaging research methodology as data science. Big Data and Cognitive
Computing. 2(1). p.4.
Mishra, S.B. and Alok, S., 2017. Handbook of research methodology.
Ragab, M.A. and Arisha, A., 2018. Research methodology in business: A starter’s guide.
Management and Organizational Studies. 5(1). pp.1-14.
Stamolampros and et. al, 2020. Harnessing the “wisdom of employees” from online reviews.
Annals of Tourism Research. 80(C).
Straus and et. al, 2016. Congressional social media communications: Evaluating Senate Twitter
usage. Online Information Review.
Worthington, D.L. and Bodie, G.D. eds., 2017. The sourcebook of listening research:
Methodology and measures. John Wiley & Sons.
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Appendix
Research Ethics approval form
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or the use of data
collected form human participants are required to gain ethical approval before commencing their
research. Please answer all relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if
incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your respective Unit Tutor:
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed research fully with your
unit tutor. Please complete this form in good time before your research project is due to
commence.
Section 1: Basic details:
Project title: A study on the impact of social media marketing on employee recruitment in
recruitment industry in the UK
Student name:
Student ID number:
Programme:
College Name:
Intended research start date:
Intended research end date:
Section 2 Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as a part of your project:
 Interviews Yes No
 Questionnaires Yes No
 Observations Yes No
 Use of personal records Yes No
 Data Analysis Yes No
 Action Research Yes No
 Focus Groups Yes No
 Others (Please specify) :
Section 3: Participants
15

Please answer the following questions, giving full details where necessary.
Will your research involve human participants?
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply:
Ages 12-16: Young people aged: 17-18 Adults:
How will participants be recruited (identified an approached)?
According to the current project, participants will have recruited through probability
and non-probability sampling.
Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
For informing participants about the topic and many other information related to the
project, there are some techniques that will be used as a research process such as e-mail,
written and oral presentation.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be made
clear to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?
From obtaining consent from respondents, all information or data regarding the topic
will be provided to the participants that in form of written.
Studies involving questionnaires: will participants be given the option of omitting questions
that do not wish to answer?
Yes No
If no, please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues arising from this
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be observed.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e give them a brief explanation
of the study)?
Yes No
Will participants be given information about the findings of your study? (This could be a brief
summary of your findings in general)
Yes No
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Section 4: Data Storage and Security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance with the Data
Protection Act (1998)
Yes No
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
During the research: Researcher
Where will the data be stored? In computer system
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be used
Yes No
If Yes, please provide further detail
ls:
After the research:
Where will the data be stored?
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format?
Will data be kept for use by other researchers? Yes No
Section 5 : Ethical Issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work, which may raise ethical concerns? If
so, please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise because of
your research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns may
include, but are not limited to the following:
 Informed consent.
 Potentially vulnerable participants.
 Sensitive topics
 Risk to participants and /or researchers
 Confidentiality/anonymity
 Disclosures/ limits to confidentiality
 Data storage and security, both during and after the research (including transfer,
sharing, encryption, protection).
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 Reporting
 Dissemination and use of your findings.
Section 6: Declaration
I have read, understood and will abide by the institution’s Research and Ethics Policy:
Yes No
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my Unit Tutor:
Yes No
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:
The above information is correct, and this is a full description of the ethical issues that
may arise in the course of my research
Name: Date:
Please submit your completed form to your supervisor and also attach to the Research
Proposal when submitting to Turnitin.
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