Ethical Principles in Scientific Enquiry

The list of ethical principles summarized by David Resnik is good but not sufficient for the purpose of scientific inquiry. Some additional principles may be required to meet the requirement of the scientists and in my opinion the following points can be more effective in implementing ethical principles for scientific research.

Freedom: This will help scientists to think in more innovative manner. They should be free to implement their new ideas for better results. They should work without any external influences politically or professionally. Scientists should have freedom without any limitations. Educate: Senior scientists should educate the junior scientists about their theories and explain them clearly to achieve better results. Knowledge transfer is most important factor in research as this will help the new and emerging scientists to be potent in their particular domains. Opportunity: Scientists should never abnegate in utilizing scientific resources. These days most of the countries are spending billions of dollars on research and this has encouraged young scientists to emerge and they should snaffle every opportunity in utilizing resources. Efficiency: Scientists should use their available resources in more effective manner to acquire results. Proper analysis should be made on the resource performance and if necessary, give them feedback to achieve their goal.
Naturally every scientist will have his own ethical principles to which they are abide. However they should link their own ethics to conventional principles under which they work.

I will agree with Yoo Jung Kim conclusion of “open-ended inquiry is important for future innovation” as this will help scientists in their research work. However there are limitations which are not considered to be substantial but one should be aware of them. With open-ended inquiry scientists will be scuppered to unforeseen hazards which we cannot predict and sometimes sensitive issues will be disclosed. Most of the scientists does not want to disclose everything to everybody about their thesis unless or until it is proved and this could be the most hindering factor of open-ended inquiry.

Open-ended inquiry will enable the scientists to explore new matters in their research which will enable them to do effective research work.

I definitely agree with Anders Sandberg’s conclusion on “open-ended inquiry is important for future innovation. Promoting scientific [understanding] among the public and public scientific criticism from professional scientists might be the most effective way of ensuring that our shared ideas remain true and high quality.” Any product after its invention will be studied for pros & cons and general public are the end users for it and hence they can give better feedback. Hence scientific researches in their research work should be as transparent as possible to enable access to their research work to common man who can be good critics. Now a days open-ended inquiry is being adapted by various domains which include research, education, finance, marketing etc., the reason is that this will enable the public to understand about the concept in their own way. A popular saying by Ambrose Bierce “Doubt is the father of invention” is true and this incertitude can be right from a professional scientist to common man. Hence such inquiries are used as a portrayal from which a scientist gets more perceptiveness in his work. Similarly public will attain more awareness on the research which they have never heard and thus opening their thoughts which will certainly improve their knowledge base.

Now a days internet is more widely used and open-ended inquiry can be done by using blogs, questionnaire, forms, opinion polls etc., which can be reached to variety of audience and will enable the scientists to analyze public cerebration. A scientist will cultivate his aspiration to realistic with his research. The next part for him is to how far this can be useful to people in practical manner and to study this, open-ended inquiry is much appreciable.

Reference: http://thesis.swu.ac.th/swudis/Sci_Ed/Washirasorn_S.pdf