• Question: Why are ethics so important to scientific research?

    Asked by to Amy, Anita, Daryl, Nimesh, Sandra on 24 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Anita Thomas

      Anita Thomas answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      @slovakinswag, ethics are an integral part of our work. There need to be firm guidelines put down, so that everybody knows just what is permitted, what is not, and what is good practice. This is true of both human and animal research.

    • Photo: Amy Monaghan

      Amy Monaghan answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      Hey Slovakianswag (so much swag in your class, it’s great)

      Without ethics researchers would have nothing to guide them with regards to right and wrong in research, and would have to make these decisions themselves. Whilst researchers are very honest and caring people – there have to be rules so no people or animals are harmed when we’re trying to cure diseases. Sometimes people mean well and want their drugs to work so badly that they will try anything to make them succeed. It also means researchers are protected from people who think the experiments that they are doing are wrong. As long as they follow the rules there can’t be any dispute in a court of law.

      Great question
      Amy

    • Photo: Daryl Jones

      Daryl Jones answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      Hey slovakianswag!

      Well, if we didn’t have good ethics in science, scientists and doctors could abuse the system, they could abuse people, or animals. They could do pretty much anything they liked, and we know that can lead to some terrible things! For example, during the World Wars, bad people paid scientists to test on real people- prisoners of war. That is so sad! So ethics are there to protect us 🙂 We as good scientists value ethics a lot!

      Good question.

Comments