This article discusses the top eight reasons why you should apply an ethic research onion for your projects and maintain ethical practices throughout the writing. Read on to produce a morally sound and socially accepted writing!
Are you wondering why ethics matter in research and why Saunders created a comprehensive guidebook on the topic? Well, to understand the nuances of academic research, responsibly explore the subject, and gather credible data, the ethical research onion is essential. It acts as a guiding light for students, encouraging them to consider its layers and ensure ethical research practices.
PNAS reported research according to which the research articles retraction rate has increased 10 times since 1975 due to fraud and ethical concerns. This is where you need to peel off the layers of the ethics research onion at every step, from effectively designing the methodology to applying the right data collection methods.
In this article, we will explore the top 8 reasons why Saunders’ research onion is so important for your research work and how you can make use of it for responsible work.
Contents
What is the Ethic Research Onion?
According to the Journal of Future Studies, Saunders presented a model of study in 2016 to design the research methodology using the right theoretical framework and applying the best ethical practices, which is known as the ethics research onion. It helps researchers, students, and professionals to easily navigate through the steps of academic research and writing.
Just like the layers of an onion, this model consists of several steps shown as a layers. When used responsibly, this paradigm guarantees that every layer promotes ethical and responsible research practices, particularly when using human subjects. Due to its huge acceptance, it gave rise to many future studies that mostly justify this step-by-step research model.
Why Is the Ethic Research Onion Important for Ethical Research Practices? Top 8 Reasons
Wondering how Saunders describes the research onion and why you should use it for your research project? Here, we will help you grasp the importance of this research onion framework so that you can customise your writing accordingly. However, to work on a lengthy task like a dissertation, you need to fulfil all the criteria recommended by your institute, including ethical practices and other guidelines. So, to easily accomplish your task and achieve excellent results, you can get assistance from dissertation writing services in the UK.
The following are the top 8 reasons behind the practical uses of ethic research onion, which will help you to better understand its usage.
1. Promotes Ethical Thinking from the Start
If you use the research onion model, the Saunders technique in your research project, you should think ethically from the beginning of the work. The discussion of ethics starts at the philosophical level and does not wait until the data collection phase.
Here is why it is important for you:
- It invites you to rethink your objectivity, knowledge, and truth reviews.
- It also encourages choices that are founded on informed approval, security, and respect for human dignity.
- It makes sure that ethics are a key component of the entire planning process rather than only a last-minute decision.
2. Offers Clear Philosophical Principles
The ethic research onion includes all research ideologies like reality, positive thinking, and interpretation. It is necessary that you address the ethical issues raised by each philosophy before proceeding.
Here is why it is important for you:
- It allows you to comprehend how your ethical responsibilities are impacted by your viewpoint.
- It helps you to connect methodology with moral principles more effectively.
- It enables you to utilise essential ethical principles in research to encourage clarity in the process of generating conclusions.
3. Guides Researchers to Select Ethical Approaches
Ethic research onion includes multiple layers to help the researcher, as its second layer focuses on research methodologies, whether deductive or inductive. To better understand the application of its rules, Grad Coach presents various research onion examples for students. Suppose you are working on the topic of workplace independence, you should apply all 6 layers of the research methodology onion to explore the subject in detail.
Here is why it is important for you:
- Deductive methods needed large samples and standardised techniques, which raised concerns about justice and security.
- The common feature of the inductive technique is deep interaction with participants, which emphasises the need for informed permission and trust.
- You can ensure that your study design complies with the ethical standards of your participants and issues by using this model.
4. Highlights the Selection of Ethical Strategies
The ethical research onion covers many other essential research methods, such as surveys, ethnographic research, case studies, and experiments, at the next layer. All these methods pose different ethical issues.
Here is why it is important for you:
- It helps you to identify the well-defined boundaries of ethical limits to ensure the protection of participants in ethnographic or case studies.
- Through surveys and experiments,
- Researchers will be able to make sure that participants are fully informed of their rights and refrain from manipulating them.
- The research onion assists you in anticipating and resolving ethical issues that are related to your selected course of action.
5. Encourages Ethical Time Horizon Choices
According to Sas Publishers, the temporal horizon layer (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal) is the next layer of the ethic research onion. Although it may appear to be purely technical but it has significant ethical implications, particularly for the treatment of participants over time.
Here is why it is important for you:
- It is helpful in maintaining privacy and repeated consent across months or years in longitudinal research.
- It is also beneficial in cross-sectional research as it needs to ensure that brief interactions can also maintain respect for dignity and confidentiality.
- This layer is also helpful for you to think about how your study will affect participants in the long term.
6. Promotes Transparent Data Collection Decisions
This is the outermost layer of the ethic research onion that involves methods and procedures for the collection and analysis of data. In this layer, you and readers may see most clearly the ethical behavior.
Here is why it is important for you:
- It involves ethical data collection with clarity, which is essential about what, how, and why data is being gathered.
- The research onions encourage the use of reliable, non-manipulative tools and ensure that data is gathered with integrity.
- According to ethical rules, data analysis methods must also be transparent and unbiased.
7. Align research with Institutional Ethics Committees
The majority of the research projects have to be approved by an Institutional Review Board or Ethics Committee. So the ethic research onion offers researchers a moral strategy, methodical to reach these high requirements.
Here is why it is important for you:
- Your proposals become more solid when each layer is matched with specific ethical evaluation standards.
- These are helpful for you to anticipate and confidently answer review board queries.
- It also highlights that ethical concern was incorporated throughout each phase of the study.
8. Enhances Research Credibility and Impact
Lastly, ethics not only include the right things, it also involves creating work that can be valuable for others. The ethical research onion can also enhance your reputation as a researcher and save you from the trouble of failure.
Here is why it is important for you:
- It includes more funding options, partnerships, and citations for ethical research.
- The readers trust your work, and they are more likely to participate honestly.
- Your research proposal has greater influence when it is seen to be responsible and ethical.
What Are the 6 Layers of the Research Onion?
According to Researchgate, the following are the six layers of the ethic research onion, representing the steps that you need to take while designing your research methodology:
- Research Philosophyis the theory or assumptions of a researcher about that specific topic.
- Research Approachis the conduct of a researcher to a customised theory.
- Methodological Choiceis the place where you need to select a research method, whether it is qualitative, mixed, or quantitative.
- Research Strategyincludes the techniques you would apply to carry out your work.
- The Time Horizonrepresents the duration of the study.
- Techniques & Proceduresinclude the particular instruments for gathering and analysing data.
What Are the Limitations of the Research Onion?
Although there are many beneficial uses of research onion, it also has some drawbacks. It explains the phenomenon by oversimplifying everything, making it difficult to fully understand the complexities of the topic. Along with that, this ethical research onion contains its own set of rules and guidelines to make research that becomes difficult to follow and proceed for the new students.
Moreover, instead of methodology, it mainly focuses on assumptions and the unforeseen ethical issues that you might face during data collection. Also, it makes the assumption that every researcher follows a precise process of research, which is not the case every time, as practical work undergoes many revisions.
Conclusion
Among the top practices for good research work, fulfilling the ethical concerns by using the ethical research onion is essential. It not only enhances the credibility of your work but also acts as a moral compass to ensure academic standards. Here, we have covered a thorough guide covering the top 8 reasons to explain the importance of maintaining ethical research practices for your academic writing tasks.
From designing an assumption to choosing a theory and collecting the data to analysing it, the six layers of the onion help you in all. Additionally, if you need personalised support for your dissertation, get connected with London-based dissertation writing firms. Whether you get professional support or use the research onion framework on your own, you will be set on your journey towards ethically responsible research work. So, make use of these ethical practices to work on your project from today!
Author Bio
Maria M. Soares is a passionate researcher and a professional dissertation writer assisting students working on their papers. She not only provides guidelines on how to make your writing more proficient but also helps them maintain all the academic standards to the fullest. Her years of expertise in this field make her an extraordinary choice to work on every project with excellence