1. That ethics should matter to everyone, not just those who spend extensive time in the field

2. That ethics is an ongoing responsibility, not a discrete task to be checked off a to-do list

1. No set of rules can cover every ethically important moment that arises in the field

2. Compliance can be meaningless. Signed consent forms have little value if participants do not understand what they are consenting to

3. When researcher ethics conflict with participant ethics

Ex. Destruction of data might be ethical from the researchers standpoint, what constitutes a harm in the eyes of the participant

1. Many people find it hard to say no to a person in authority

2. May believe that establishing a relationship with a researcher will be beneficial in some way

1. May bring social disapproval of the community to the participant. They may become the object of jealousy envy or shame.

2. When the researchers presents adds security to a community, the ethical dilemma of how to leave arises. Do you leave and increase the vulnerability of the community?

1. Carefully choose pseudonyms for people and places in sensitive areas.

2. Anticipate how various audiences might use the published work, and take necessary precautions

Your duty to minimize harm to participants as well as local research assistance is key

1. Significance: It must have significance for a topic or issue relating to the subject matter of our field

2. Researchable: It must be researchable

3. Not yet answeres: It must not yet have a definitive answer

A conceptual framework for understanding the shape of you research.

It starts with a broad theoretical general topic / question, and narrows into a specific research question at the middle and then widens again when making conclusions and analyzing the data

• 1. Descriptive
• 2. Explanatory
• 3. Predictive
• 4. Prescriptive
• 5. Normative

1. 'Begs' another question

Ex. Why was American slavery the most awful there was ever known?

2. Presents a false dichotamy

Ex. Plato: totalitarian or Democrat?

3. Asks about a fictional event

Ex. Would FDR have decided to drop atomic bombs on Japan if he was still in office in 1945?

4. Is metaphysical

Ex. Was the first world war inevitable?

5. Is a tautology

Ex. Was George Bush unsuccessful because he was moving against the tide of History? * it is really asking if he was unsuccessful because he was unsuccessful

1. To explain why and to what extent a definitive answer to your question does not yet exist

2. In the process of providing the first function, It prepares the ground for the elaboration of your own argument

• 1. Read the literature
• 2. Summarize the literature
• 3. Set the stage for your own argument

The research base helps to satisfy the first two requirements of a research question

1. The need to formulate questions so that it relates to an issue that is significant for the field of politics

2. The various considerations that ensure that a question is researchable

The literature review helps to fulfill the third requirement

3. That the question does not yet have a definitive answer