Ethical considerations are necessary for any research activity because they guide the designs and practices of the included parties. The primary goal of evaluation research is to improve decision-making by utilizing feedback. Due to its benefits, such as gaining valuable insight into the operation of projects or programs, assessing effects, and building organizational capacity, conducting evaluation research requires ethical considerations. This essay identifies and describes three ethical considerations and how they affect the evaluation research efforts. The ethical considerations when conducting evaluation research are confidentiality, informed consent, and honest communication, which help build trust among participants, provide them freedom during research, and keep them aware of their roles.
Confidentiality is a crucial ethical consideration in evaluation research because it ensures that identifiable data from participants cannot be linked to them by anyone else. All participants in evaluation research have the right to privacy, so as long as their data is in use or storage, researchers must protect it. Confidentiality shows participants that the research body respects them and the information they offer to be used for research purposes (Surmiak, 2020). The lack of confidentiality in evaluation research breaches trust and undermines credibility, making it challenging to engage in future research. Therefore, organizations should ensure that research data remains confidential to avoid spreading personal information that could be misused.
Informed consent is an essential ethical consideration that ensures all participants in the evaluation research understand all it involves, informing their decision on whether they will participate. Informed consent allows the participants to understand the research’s benefits, risks, funding, or approval to conduct it (O’Sullivan et al., 2021). Informed consent also includes the assurance that the data participants share will be private and that they can withdraw their information and participation at any time. Informed consent entails providing participants with a document containing all information related to their participation, upon which they agree by signing. If the participants are illiterate, the information can be read to them. If they are children, parents or guardians should give consent. Informed consent assures participants of the research’s transparency and offers them enough time and freedom to decide whether to participate in the evaluation. The lack of informed consent may lead to legal repercussions for the organization conducting the evaluation research, mainly if any harm befalls the participants. Therefore, before beginning evaluation research, an organization must ensure that participants are willing, regardless of the risks involved.
Honest communication throughout the evaluation process is core in research. Communication maintains the morale and interest among the participants, allowing them to stay involved in the research. Constant communication also improves the accuracy of the evaluation because the researcher can exhaust all the questions they have regarding the topic of interest (Xu et al., 2020). When the researchers are honest with participants, it raises their probability of being a part of the evaluation process to completion. The lack of honest communication leaves participants confused and inadequately informed about their role, lowering the effectiveness of the research. Therefore, evaluation research should involve adequate communication with honesty for better research.
In summary, the ethical considerations when conducting evaluation research are confidentiality, informed consent, and honest communication, which help build trust among participants, provide them freedom during research, and keep them aware of their roles. The lack of confidentiality and conducting research without informed consent breaks trust with participants and lowers the quality of the research. The lack of honest communication lowers the participants’ morale, leading to them refusing to participate in evaluation research.
References
O’Sullivan, L., Feeney, L., Crowley, R. K., Sukumar, P., McAuliffe, E., & Doran, P. (2021). An evaluation of the process of informed consent: views from research participants and staff. Trials, pp. 22, 1–15. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13063-021-05493-1
Surmiak, A. (2020). Should we maintain or break confidentiality? The choices made by social researchers in the context of law violation and harm. Journal of Academic Ethics, 18(3), 229–247. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10805-019-09336-2
Xu, A., Baysari, M. T., Stocker, S. L., Leow, L. J., Day, R. O., & Carland, J. E. (2020). Researchers’ views on, and experiences with, the requirement to obtain informed consent in research involving human participants: a qualitative study. BMC medical ethics, 21(1), 1–11. https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-020-00538-7
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