High Level of Anecdotal Data and Loose

¶ … high level of anecdotal data and loose interpretation involved. For any serious study, what we want is quantitative or scientific research. While the term scientific research is frequently used in discussions and studies, many few may actually understand the real meaning of scientific research. For a research to be truly scientific, it must the following criteria:

"There must be a felt difficulty or problem to be addressed

There must be a location and definition of the felt difficulty

One must suggest solutions (hypotheses) to the problem

Using deductive reasoning one must predict the consequences of the various suggested solutions

One must test the hypothesis in action" (Blumenfeld, p. 119)

In most cases, we assume that scientific research is one that involves science. This may be true to some extent but there are other requirements for a research to be scientific and they have been explained above. The research should also be "reproducible." This means that whatever results have been derived from the research should be reproducible in another experiment at some other laboratory by someone else at another time. It is only then the research can be considered scientific in nature.

One of the most controversial subjects of scientific study is its participants. For example when a pharmaceutical company decides to conduct a research on a new treatment, it will invite human beings instead of animals to participate in the research. But since the drug is new or alternative treatments being sought are untested, there is a likelihood that something might go wrong and participants may end up getting hurt. This is where participants rights come into play and scientific research has to be guided by some important principles which include "beneficence, respect for human dignity and justice." It is important to understand what they mean to fully understand the rights of participants. Human participants of a research should be treated with respect and beneficence. The concept of beneficence entails that during a scientific research, the aim of the study should be to "do good" and not harm anyone in the process.

"In the research context, beneficence can be achieved by producing outcomes that will benefit humankind." (Taylor, p. 105)

The aim of the study should be to not cause any deliberate harm to humankind and by this measure; all participants have the right to "not be harmed." "The right not to be harmed means that human participants should not be harmed as a result of participating in the research study...The researcher should always respect the rights, beliefs and autonomy of the participants." (p. 105)

Researchers are also under an obligation to protect the participants from social harm, financial harm and emotional harm apart from physical harm. In addition to physical harm, there is always a danger of participants undergoing some social or emotional harm from participating in a research and it is the right of the human participants to not endure such harm and to not be exposed to any such harm.