Ethical Issues in Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical Issues in Research - Essay Example It studies the principles about how we should do things right. We study ethics in order to improve our lives, and therefore its principal concern is the nature of human well-being. (Aristotles Ethics, 2007) Despite all these supposed advantages, there are still numerous ethical issues. This is because people interpret ethics differently. I might think of something as ethical while it may be totally unethical for another person. This is what leads to ethical problems and concerns. In the context of research, let's say, that a scientist feels that it is perfectly moral to test medicine on animals. He thinks so because his priority is benefit of science. An environmentalist, on the other hand, may feel apprehended at the thought of animals being made test subjects because his utmost priority is to protect the environment. What can we say about ethics here Both parties, in their places, are entirely reasonable. However, an ethical issue arises because both have different conventions for distinguishing between right and wrong. These issues are faced everyone everyday. Everybody comes to a point where they have to decide between what's right and what's not. This dilemma becomes especially apparent when carrying out research. There are specific norms for everything; in case of ethics of research, they are the aims or goals to be applied to people who conduct research in a systematic and scientific manner or other scholarly or creative activities, and there is a specific discipline, research ethics, on which these norms are based (Resnik, 2007). Ethical Issues Like mentioned above, these norms serve the goals of research. What are these goals The most important goal of research clearly is to find out whatever is possible about what is being studied. How does sticking to these ethical norms achieve this aim The answer is in the following section. While we get to that, we will study about the conflict of research and ethics.The biggest problem with carrying out ethical research is that it doesn't give perfectly naturalistic results. Either you can have an absolutely ecologically valid study or you can be absolutely moralistic and adhere to every ethical norm. Ecological validity is when the study is true to life. One may think, what has that got to do with ethics To carry out an ecologically valid research, it is important that subjects don't know about a lot of things that could cause demand bias characteristics or results that are affected by preconceived notions. And if subjects don't know a lot of things, this means that they haven't bee n told by the researchers and this is unethical. Researchers, on the other hand, may say that it was ethical as they kept things private for the benefit of science. Nevertheless, for an average person, it is unethical to keep things from the subjects of the study. This ethical issue is an honesty issue. Apart from honesty, another concern is confidentiality. When researchers carry out research and find amazing results, they feel obliged to share it with the rest if the world even if it means breaching of the initial agreement. Information about participants is leaked out and this too for them is for the good of science. Sharing results is one thing, while breaking a contact is another. The

Reflection on Leadership, Communication and Teamwork

Reflection on Leadership, Communication and Teamwork 1.0 Introduction Complexities in assignments and projects have facilitated the adoption of team approaches to problem solving. In many learning institutions and places of work, team approach has led to different people being brought together in order to benefit from their varying but combined experience and manpower. Studies by Pokras (2002) have revealed that team members perform to their best standards if a common target or goal had been readily identified before the formation of the team. Identification of the common goal in initial stages is the key to team success since every team has its own defined roadmap for achieving the identified goal. Achievement of the target also involves each team member identifying his role in the team and doing his best to achieve it. Team members are likely to encounter challenges when working on achieving their common goals. To ensure success in their teams, they need to understand overall issues that affect the performance of their members. In line with the above, this written report seeks to reflect on the overall team experience as was displayed by Team 4 members when they undertook tutorial preparation and tutorial discussion assignments. The report identified the observations on team experience; dynamics and development. The varying characteristics of Team 4 members were also noted and are also described in this report. The report goes ahead to link the observations of Team 4 members to the various academic theories on team experience. Secondary literatures addressing team experience themes are consulted for the proposed academic theories. The report then concludes with reasons on why Team 4 experiences were as observed and noted. Recommendations are the provided on how best Team 4 members can improve their future team spirits and experiences. It is our desire that any team reading this report will find it interesting and valuable for their future use. 2.0 Observations of Team Experience As the name suggests, Team 4 was constituted by 4 members; 1 female and 3 males. To hold each member accountable on his/her role in the group, Team 4 members decided to nickname each member. As such, the following members made up Team 4; Member 1, Member 2, Member and Member 4. The observations below have adopted this naming. During their first meeting, Team 4 members unanimously agreed on the use of face to face, Skype, and mobile phone services of voice and short messaging services (sms) as avenues of carrying out the discussion. Amongst the 3, face to face communication was the most frequently used method of carrying out the team work since members consented to the idea that immediate feedbacks were easily passed between them when using this method. Most observations were therefore noted during the face to face sessions. The overall rating for the observations made can be summarised as 70% positive and 30% negative. The following is a presentation of some of the major observations as displayed by Team 4 members. The presentation involved identification of key variables and the observations made on members. 2.1 Leadership Roles Though it was earlier on agreed that leadership role at Team 4 was to rotational, it was observed that some members feared the responsibility of assuming leadership roles when it came to their turns. The creation of the tutorials for presentation in class called for each team member to assume a leadership role on a rotational basis. This was considered key to success of any team since each team was to be later on required to successfully present their tutorials before the class. The presentations required every member of the group to take a leadership role at the time of presentation and therefore the reluctance by Member 2 and Member 4 to assume leadership roles caused a lot of worries to Member 1 and Member 3 since it was projected that it would impact negatively on the overall performance of Team 4. During the initial meetings, Members 2 and 4 would faithfully request any of their colleagues to volunteer by taking up the leadership roles on their behalf. Reasons put forward in the ir defence were that they deemed themselves less skilled when it came to creating slides and providing the logical structure upon which discussion topics were to be handled. One member, Member 2, was even bold enough to state before the other members that he lacked the courage to articulate issues before a group of people. To correct on this, Members 1 and 3 had to assume guidance and encouragement roles. In encouraging the two to improve on their courage, Members 1 and 3 borrowed Topchik (2007) motivational quote that called on fearful people to focus on by speaking up and listening openly for them to built trust (p.10). As time wore on and more meetings were held, Members 2 and 4 were able to develop their courage and lead the discussions to the best of their understanding. They could usher in members to give out their suggestions as well as interrupt them to allow their colleagues to seek clarifications in areas where they felt dissatisfied. 2.2 Knowledge on Topics Discussed It was observed that the four members experienced variations when it came to understanding the topics under discussion. For instance, in one session Member 1 emerged as the most knowledgeable in identifying and linking the relationships between various sub-topics. In the succeeding session, Member 3 assumed this role. These variations helped the sharing of knowledge amongst Team 4 members. 2.3 Contributing Towards Discussion Topics Though Members 2 and 4 had initially shown fearful factors, it was observed that all Team 4 members took an active role in contributing towards topics at hand. Everybody would seek an opportunity to express his ideas, and his colleagues would either agree or disagree on the particular members points. 2.4 Conflicts and Disagreements As every member became active in the discussions, it was observed that Team 4 members could not hold to each others opinions and wishes. A practical case emerged one Saturday when Member 1 proposed and insisted that every member was to present to the class the section which he or she oversaw as the leader of the team. In sticking to his view, Member 1 claimed that it was common sense that as a leader of the session, each leader stood a better chance of presenting the section to the class. However, his colleagues completely objected to his opinion on the view that teamwork and team spirit called on all members to have an even understanding of all the issues discussed by the team, and as such, each had an equal understanding of the sections. To them, anyone could comfortably present any section. The disagreement arising from this varied opinions boiled to the extent that all members had to unanimously agree to call off the session to avoid on the impending physical fights. However, on a positive note, Member 1 had to drop his hard line stance and adopt other members suggested random selection. 2.5 On the Issue of Time It was observed that members attended to sessions on time. Only one chance of late arrival was observed when Member 3 arrived 30 minutes late into the discussion. However, she had written a phone message to every member of the team to inform them of her late arrival since she was held up on traffic at the time of the meeting. 3.0 Theoretical Evaluation Institutions of learning and business organizations have continued with their adopted norm of using team approach as the tool for achieving specific tasks. Teams continue to gain increasing attention as potentially important organization assets (Zayed and Kamel, 2005, p.1). The increased adoption of team approach or team experience across these institutions has called for the need to provide information on the themes and dynamics involved in teamwork to help them achieve or attain their set targets. These may include amongst others; 3.1 Definition of Teams Teams are groups of individuals who accomplish designated objectives by working independently, communicating effectively, and making decisions that affect their work (Topchik 2007, p.7). On their part, Zayed and Kamel (2005) defined teams as two or more independent individuals who interact with and influence one another in order to accomplish a common purpose (p.1). From his research, Pokras (2002) summarised team chemistry as consisting of the following three parts; communication, consensus and contracting (11). From the definitions above it can be deduced that Team 4 comprised of the four individuals who worked to achieve a common goal of preparing tutorials on selected topics for presentation. They interacted through face to face, Skype or messaging and talking on phone. Zayed and kamel (2005) noted that many people across business fields had come to replace the term group with team. To such people, the two words mean the same and can therefore be used interchangeably. 3.2 Succeeding as a Team: Levels Involved The joining together of members to form a team does not guarantee the success of the particular team. The formation stage may bring together quiet, cautious or tentative members who may take a while before starting to go through the storming stage (Zayed Kamel, 2005, p.10). The storming process may involve team members studying each others tensions, differences as well as conflicts. After learning of members characteristics, team members advance into the second stage where they actively concentrate on solving their problems. Teams achieve their goals when members start interacting smoothly. At this level, each member is energetic, dynamic and productive leading to the team attaining success by achieving their set common goal. 3.3 Characteristics of a Good Team According to RIC Publishers (2003), good team members listen to each other, cooperate, have clear team goals and allow each member to freely express his or her opinions (p.24). On his part, Topchik (2007) went on to postulate that best team experiences had roles of each member clearly defined, had members who were open and honest in communication, had a supportive and knowledgeable manager, allowed members to freely make decisions and rewarded or recognized its members when they successfully achieved its goals (p.6). 4.0 Conclusion Though little disagreements were observed in Team 4s meeting sessions, the team successfully achieved its goal of creating presentation tutorials. This was reflected in the comprehensive and detailed tutorials that were successfully presented to the class on the presentation day. The ability of the all Team 4 members to respond confidently and accurately presentation questions also contributed in highlighting the teams success. In assessing the hard line stands taken by some team members, it was concluded that the decision by the teacher not to give due attention to members characteristics at the time of forming the teams may have played a facilitation role. As Topchick (2007) notes, when forming a team, the individuals skills, knowledge and experience should constitute the number one criteria for team membership (p10). 5.0 Recommendation Best on Team 4s achieved results; the following recommendations stand to be made. Team 4 members should learn the importance of recognizing each others contributions. This makes every team member to feel that his/her work is very meaningful and important. As such more contributions are likely to be forwarded by the motivated team members. The rotational team leaders should know that their leadership roles involve coordinating member activities. They should therefore not get discouraged or shy away from assuming these leadership roles based on their inferiority complex. Drawing from Dan and Lane (2008) works, team members who initially declined to take up their leadership roles are informed that effective team leaders are tasked with enabling everyone to contribute their unique skills (p.307). Members should be in a position to accommodate the views of other members by dropping their hard line stands. Team works are intended to avail avenues for their colleagues to share their opinions and arrive at common stands. Lastly and as Exley and Dennick (2004) opine, in cases where members are handling complex topics, several discussion sessions should be created to help members to research more on the topic at hand. This will help them to develop and accumulate knowledge on these topics.

Should Women Have the Right to make the Decision? Essay -- social issu

Should Women Have the Right to make the Decision? Abortion: Should women have the right to make that decision? According to Planned Parenthood, â€Å"Abortion is a way to end pregnancy. Sometimes, an embryo or fetus stops developing and the body expels it. This is called spontaneous abortion or "miscarriage." A woman can also choose to end a pregnancy. This is called induced abortion. There are three ways it can be done — with medicine, vacuum aspiration, or surgery†(Parenthood). Abortion has been a part of our country for many years, but it has only been a hot topic for debate for the last twenty-five years. As far as how long abortion has been around for that is an interesting question. According to some historians, abortion has been around in some form for thousands of years. It is believed that some â€Å"ancient tribes who were sometimes forced to move quickly would perform abortions on the pregnant women because these women would slow down the entire tribe†(Lewis). According to an article on a women’s history web site abortion laws started developing in the 1820’s â€Å"forbidding abortion after the forth month of pregnancy†(Lewis, 2004). It also states that â€Å"most abortions had been all but outlawed by 1900†(Lewis, 2004). In 1965, all fifty states banned abortion. Of course there is always an exception to the rules a loophole if you will, you can still have an abortion if it would â€Å"save the life of the mother, in case of rape or incest, or if the fetus was deformed† (Lewis). It was not until 1973 that the Supreme Court ruled most existing state abortion laws unconstitutional via the case of Roe vs. Wade. â€Å"This decision ruled out any legislative interference in the first trimester of pregnancy and put limits on what restrictions could be passed on abortions in later stages of pregnancy† (Lewis). Since these, decision made by the Supreme Court there has been many different groups protesting the rulings of 1973. Some of these groups protested in ways that were non-violent, while other groups went as far as bombing abortion clinics. Currently the latest issue facing the anti-abortion movement is the termination of late term pregnancies also called â€Å"partial birth abortions†. When discussing the abortion topic you should know about the two main players. The first ones are against abortion and believe that it is immoral and unconstitutional f... ...ghts of the mother and give them to a child that is not yet even developed enough to sustain life on its own. Women have been fighting for their rights for many years, and to allow somebody to take even one of those right away is unthinkable to me, and I am a guy what do you think women would say about this. I think that it is put best in a statement from Planned Parenthood â€Å"Abortion is never an easy decision, but women have been making that choice for thousands of years, for many good reasons†(parenthood). Works cited Kirkeby, Kelsey. "Should Abortion be legal." Should Abortion be legal. 18 Feb. 2005. 23 Feb. 2005 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "A history of the abortion controversy in the United States." Women's History. 2004. 23 Feb. 2005 Parenthood, Planned . "Nine reasons why abortions are legal." mar. 1989. Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 23 Feb. 2005 Parenthood, Planned . "what is abortion?." Choosing Abortion-Questions and Answers. Mar. 2003. Planned Parenthood. 24 Feb. 2005 "The History of Abortion." What is abortion. Abortion Info. 23 Feb. 2005 WCLA,. Legal Abortion: Arguments Pro & Con. Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc.. 23 Feb. 2005

Praise Song for my Mother by Grace Nichols Analysis Essay

What are the poet’s feelings about family and how does she convey these ideas? Grace Nichols writes Praise Song for my mother as ode, or letter, as a celebration of her mother. Having moved from Guyana to the UK, the ‘ode’ is in a Caribbean style, praising her mother for all that she has done. Nichols writes about what family is, and what it means to her, and the poem seems to be positive, in adoration of her mother, but there are also other standpoints that say the poem could have a deeper, negative meaning. Nichols conveys the powerful, protective love that she receives from her mother in the poem in a variety of ways. She writes that she was ‘water to [her], deep and bold and fathoming’. As water is a necessity to live, she creates the image that her mother was a necessity to her life, and that she ‘couldn’t live without her’. She uses many of these metaphors, using the term ‘You were’ to convey the different roles her mother played in her life, that although she was just a woman, she was to her, the ‘moon’s eye’ and the ‘sunrise’. The use of the past tense in ‘you were’ shows that her mother may have passed away, and that this is not only a celebration of her mother, but also a celebration of her mother’s life, and that the poem is a sort of mourning of her mother. However, this can also be interpreted as the memories of her childhood, when she lived in Guyana with her family, written in the past tense, to convey her feelings in the past. The fact that this poem is written in 14 lines, as a sonnet, shows the ode of love from Nichols to her mother, and the loving bond in family. Nichols could also be trying to convey the message that family is about growing, and allowing the children to develop and learn. Although this at first sight, a poem of positivity, and ‘praise’ for her mother, there could be a more negative, possibly sarcastic side to the poem. The phrase ‘you were water to me’ initially seems positive, but when paired with ‘deep and bold and fathoming’, makes the reader think that there was possible ‘too much water’, and that Nichols’ mother was possibly overprotective or that she enveloped Nichols in her care. The words ‘deep’ and ‘bold’ make you think of the ocean, and possibly that she was drowning in it. In addition, Nichols writes ‘go to your wide futures, you said’. This initially strikes the reader as a message of hope from Nichols’ mother, that she wanted her children to go out into the world and grow. The fact that ‘futures’ is plural, shows that there is essentially a ‘world of oppurtunities’ available, rather than a controlled, decided future. However, this may have been written as a sarcastic ‘you said’, showing that Nichols’ mother expected too much of them, and that life is actually much harder than going ‘out to your wide futures’. This resentment may be a product of Nichols’ mother being overprotective, and not allowing her to learn on her own, and being overprotective. It may also mean that her mother may have essentially abandoned her, and left her to her own actions after she left to England. However, given the circumstances, it is most likely written as possibly a memory of the last thing her mother said to her, before passing away, or before their relationship became too distant. In this way, there are many differing interpretations for this message. Nichols seems to be conveying the message that family is a sort of nutrition, or nourishment. She uses lots of metaphorical language such as ‘You were water’ and ‘you were sunrise’ to make family seem like a very positive factor. She also writes ‘the fried plantain smell replenishing replenishing’, with the repetition of ‘replenishing’ making the reader focus on the word. The lack of punctuation in the phrase, and also the lack of punctuation throughout the whole poem possible harks back to Nichols’ less educated childhood. The words ‘replenishing’, ‘water’ and ‘sunrise’ creates the image of the mother fulfilling all the bare necessities for the Nichols’, and shows the different roles that Nichols’ mother played in her life. The poem itself is very orderly for the first three stanzas, with same sized lines, but the fourth stanza is one line longer, this line being longer still, and then the fifth stanza being one line only. This poem could possibly portray a ladder or staircase, symbolising the ‘steps’ to adulthood and success. As the poem is about Nichols’ mother, this could be creating the image that her mother was the aid to her success. This is all the picture of how family is a sort of nutrition and aid to life. Overall, Grace Nichols provides many different standpoints on the importance of family in ‘Praise Song for my Mother’. Although it is written as a positive poem of ‘celebration’ of her mother, there could also be more negative standpoints and alternative views, highlighting possible sarcasm in the poem. In conclusion, Nichols seems to generally have very positive views on family and uses lots of metaphorical language to create the image that her mother was ‘everything’ to her’. She also uses literary techniques to showcase her memories of childhood, and the importance of family in her upbringing.

Class Prophecy

Everyone has a dream he wants to pursue and achieve. As they say, there is nothing wrong to dream and aim high especially for the children like us who have the courage to overcome trials and obstacles to reach the star that we’ve been dreaming to get someday. But if you were to write your own prophecy of the future, what would it be? Would it be a once-upon-a-time story? Or a happy-ever-after one? For the six years that we have been together, we have shared our dreams and ambitions with one another. Some want to be a superior pilot while many of us dream of being a professional journalist.Now that we are about to graduate, we have reached the climax of achieving our goals in life. Here is my prophecy of the future and how the Galileans value their dreams with our future diverged in a yellow wood. â€Å"Congratulations! † The professor happily told me when I graduated in college. But something bothered me for awhile. What have happened to my elementary classmates now tha t we graduated in College? I wondered. To achieve my dream of being a professional journalist, I went to Los Angeles to learn more and to know more. I worked hard and studied hard in journalism.At last, I did it!! I am now a highly-qualified journalist and known all over the world. I pursue my career in New York where I worked in a famous publication as a news writer and wrote editorials about the latest issues. I earned a lot and made my own novel known as â€Å"The Forsaken Love† featuring the love story of my past friends. It was a hit and was liked by many people so there came another opportunity. So I made a new novel featuring my own story. I was famously known all over the world so someone called me on the phone and invited me to a talk show.I can’t believe it, the host was Diane, my childhood classmate and friend. We talked about our lives. I said, â€Å"Hey, how are you? †. Then she answered ,†Oh, I’m fine. I also write novels and stories a bout friendship†. I was so proud of her that she achieved her dream of being a famous journalist and a well-known author. Suddenly, an unexpected text message came into our sight. We read the message on the phone and stated,† Dear Grade School classmates (Galileans) batch 2011-2012, you are all invited to our reunion that will be held at Pin’s Hotel, 8 pm.Hope you can come. SEE YOU!! †. Diane said,† Hey, I’ll go! †. Then I said,† Me too. I wonder how they’re doing right now and besides I miss them already†. She told me,† Ok see you tomorrow at 8. † Then the awaited day came, I arrived there just on time. I cannot believe it, almost everything had changed. Jego who was so small looked so matured and became a skilled pilot. I was looking for Glaysa and there she arrived with her purple dress and believe it or not, she was a certified teacher of Cambridge University.I talked with her for a moment and saw Carina gracefully walked on the carpet. We were glad that she is now a highly-qualified doctor for discovering medicines to cure serious diseases such as cancer without suffering from any chemotherapies. And there came Angela with her head high for being an outstanding scientist who first invented an Earthquake Detector successfully in her generation. The ever stylish Yannina came to the place with her nice outfit became a famous fashion designer and didn’t expect cooking to be her profession in Paris, the home of the best chefs in the world.Then a group came in. The boys namely Dave, Lauren, Sean and Earl along with the good ‘ol singer Alyssa,were there carrying their guitars and drums. I never thought that they will make their own band. But their childhood fantasy happened in reality. They have made their own band known in the Philippines as the â€Å"Band Aid†. Many of us arrived including Marymil who became a talented essayist and Mona who turned out to be a good th eatre actress together with her best friend, Rachel.There also came James who in grade school was the best artist became a very talented painter all over the globe. Nicole and Chubie became hip-hop dancers in the United States and Joeana excelled being a professional dance instructor and she taught many famous actors in the showbiz industry how to dance. Fatima who dreamed of being a singer has released her album and were bought by many people. all of us were there, enjoying and living the time. Band Aid played performed many songs and became the star of the night.They rocked the party while we were having fun. All that we could do that night id to reminisce the moments and memories we’ve had together while our grade school pictures were flashed in the screen. I was happy that all of us have reached the star that we’ve been dreaming to get. I hope that this prophecy of mine would come true someday. Whenever you face many trials and obstacles, never give up even though how hard it s, it is just the challenge for you to be a better person. So live life and remember, YOU ARE THE RULER OF YOUR OWN DESTINY.