Skype Tutorial for Part 5 17/03/15

Part 5: Professional Ethics

During the group Skype tutorial with Adesola regarding Task 5, we discussed the various aspects of planning a research project and the impact ethics have on our inquiry’s. I feel that during the tutorial, I gained a greater insight of what ethics actually are and how they affect myself and others, it is the definition of one's actions on other people. I feel it is a much broader subject than I initially understood, it made me consider my inquiry question in greater depth and the various issues I should consider when conducting my research.

I had previously planned on who I was going to interview for my research, I thought it would be a great idea to interview some of my students in order to gain an perspective on what they enjoy/find most challenging in their work and discuss what has helped them to overcome certain obstacles. However this could potentially have a negative impact, the students may not be 100% truthful, feel self conscious, might feel 'put on the spot' or not understand why they are being interviewed. I do not want my research to cause insecurity so I therefore decided that a class discussion and analysis might be more a more appropriate method, but again the ethics of this need to also be considered!

We looked at alternative ways to word our questions and how these words might alter the direction of our inquiry. I re worded my initial question to, 'What varying methods of developing performance skills do successful professionals use?' This brought about the query of, well what is one's definition of success? The definition of success will be different for each individual as everyone has their own unique personal ideals and goals. Therefore as a result of this, I feel I need to perhaps look at the varying ways of asking my question, baring in mind that it will alter over time and bear in mind I cannot predispose the outcome.

We discussed the importance of the use of data, what you draw from the analysis and how you evaluate it. If two people were to ask the same question of inquiry, they would ultimately result in very different outcomes, as the significance is in the process. We need to ask the questions, how am I engaged in what I am doing? How is my research impacting others? The research is all about making yourself better, in turn helping other people.