Study on the Ethical Awareness of Social Sciences Researchers and Determinant of Attending a Research Ethics Training

Abstract

This study of ethicial awareness and concern among researchers is an effort to contribute to quality research implementation which conforms to principles of research ethics. This study had the objective to study the concern and awareness of ethics in research in the field of sociology such as research misconduct, honesty, moral, and respon sibility. This study attempts to identify factors which influence attendance in training on research ethics. Data were collected using quantitative methods (structured interviews) and qualitative methods with 119 social sciences researchers and in-depth interviews of the research ethical review committee, respectively. This study found that social science researchers are very mindful and concerned about ethics in research and the importance of honesty in the research process. They recognize that copying the research of others or inappropriately modifying or fabricating data is unethical and unacceptable. They understand that accurately referencing sources of data is an important responsibility. The result of the binary logistic regression analysis shows that ‘attitude of the researcher’ is an important determinant of whether a person will attend a research ethics training: If the researcher perceives the training as important, that will increase the odds of attendance by nearly thirty-fold.