{"title":"Equipoise and ethics in educational research","authors":"L. Burkholder","doi":"10.1177/14778785211009105","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Does the moral requirement that medical research comparing the effectiveness of two treatment methods be done only when there is community level equipoise also apply to research in teaching and learning comparing the effectiveness of two instructional methods? This article argues that it does. It evaluates three claims that the requirement does not apply to research in teaching and learning. One is the idea that the equipoise standard mixes up the ethical rules for practice with those for research. So it applies neither to research in medicine nor research in teaching and learning. The second is the idea that research in teaching and learning is different than research in medicine. The ethical basis for the equipoise requirement in medical research does not exist for research in education and so does not apply. Finally, the point is sometimes made that satisfying the equipoise requirement can be outweighed or more than compensated for by other factors when evaluating the ethics of research. For example, the knowledge gained about the comparative merits of different methods of teaching and learning might be so significant that it offsets any moral demand for equipoise or uncertainty.","PeriodicalId":46679,"journal":{"name":"Theory and Research in Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/14778785211009105","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Theory and Research in Education","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785211009105","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Does the moral requirement that medical research comparing the effectiveness of two treatment methods be done only when there is community level equipoise also apply to research in teaching and learning comparing the effectiveness of two instructional methods? This article argues that it does. It evaluates three claims that the requirement does not apply to research in teaching and learning. One is the idea that the equipoise standard mixes up the ethical rules for practice with those for research. So it applies neither to research in medicine nor research in teaching and learning. The second is the idea that research in teaching and learning is different than research in medicine. The ethical basis for the equipoise requirement in medical research does not exist for research in education and so does not apply. Finally, the point is sometimes made that satisfying the equipoise requirement can be outweighed or more than compensated for by other factors when evaluating the ethics of research. For example, the knowledge gained about the comparative merits of different methods of teaching and learning might be so significant that it offsets any moral demand for equipoise or uncertainty.
期刊介绍:
Theory and Research in Education, formerly known as The School Field, is an international peer reviewed journal that publishes theoretical, empirical and conjectural papers contributing to the development of educational theory, policy and practice.