Ethics of Conducting Research in Social Sciences at the University Level in Pakistan

Ethical consideration has a fundamental importance in conducting any research. It plays an important role, especially in social science. This study is designed to examine the perceptions and practices of research students towards ethical concerns in conducting social sciences research. A survey design was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised all the public sector universities of Pakistan. The sample of 26 public universities was selected from all administrative areas of Pakistan. Document review was further used to identify ethical concerns in social sciences research and a self-developed questionnaire was used for data collection. This study revealed that students were not completely aware of the ethical norms of their research in social sciences. Most of the research students do not obey the research norm during conducting their study in social sciences. This study also highlights the impact of research aptitude on the quality of research and it helps to improve the performance of students in the context of research.