Research Ethics – (M.A.)

Contents

To be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate students must obtain 60 credits by completing either module one or module two, and one other module. To obtain the Postgraduate Diploma students must obtain 120 credits by completing all four taught modules. If you successfully complete the four taught modules you may progress to the MA year, which involves researching and writing a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words on an approved topic, worth 60 credits.

Course Modules

Module One: Introduction to Ethical Theory and Research Ethics

This module provides the groundwork for the rest of the course. It will introduce key ethical theories such as consequentialism, deontology, virtue theory, and relativism. It will also introduce key concepts and background issues that are directly related to the context of research ethics. Such issues are likely to include the nature of research, codes of research ethics, scandals and the role and legitimacy of research ethics committees.

Module Two: Autonomy, Consent and Research

This module introduces and explores the central concepts of autonomy, consent and confidentiality and examines them in the context of research. This module has a clear theory and application split consistent with the aims of deepening the theoretical understanding of these key concepts but in the context of research and the concrete issues it raises.

Module Three: Ethics in Research Trials

The focus of this module will be the ethical issues that arise in the context of clinical trials. Attention will be given to the working of this kind of research and to the speciific ethical issues that arise within it. The key concepts discussed in the module are not limited to clinical trials however. Equipoise, harm, risk and justice are important theoretical issues whose relevance is broader than the clinical trial context.

Module Four: Ethics and Different Research Methodologies

There are many other forms of research besides clinical trials. The module will examine the particular ethical issues that arise in a range of different research methodologies and research contexts. It will include, but not necessarily be limited to, consideration of the ethical scrutiny of research in higher education institutions, public health research, qualitative methodologies and research conducted by students.

MA Year

The dissertation will be on a topic chosen by the students, but related to the overall course aims and must be approved by the student´s supervisor.

Assessment

As the course is completed via distance learning, students will be assessed partially by online participation and comprehension tasks with the remainder of the marks coming from essays of between 2,000 and 4,000 words. The ration of online work to essays will differ for each of the four modules. In addition the dissertation will be 15,000-20,000 words.