Download Ethical issues in Research

Ethical issues in Research
A learning resource from the
education forum
What are Ethical Issues?
• Ethical issues are ones which involve moral
judgements and principles.
• In social research ethical issues arise in
relation to whether the social actor being
studied could be harmed by the research
process, whether they give their consent,
whether their privacy/confidentiality is
respected, and whether they are being
deceived about the nature of the research
Consent
• Researchers should always get
the consent of the group or
individual they are studying. It
is also important that they
understand why the research is
taking place (informed
consent). Retrospective consent
(after the event)can be sought
only if informed consent from
the start would ruin the research
process
Deception
• It is a good general principle not to deceive the respondent
about the nature of the research or the researcher’s role.
• However in covert observation (when the researcher’s role
is hidden to make the respondents act normally) this is
clearly not the case
• Covert observation is usually chosen the studies of deviant
groups but is fraught with ethical problems - it can be seen
as intrusive spying. Moreover the researcher is left with the
ethical dilemma of what to do with information about
illegal activities he or she may have gathered
Privacy
• Social researchers are
guided by the British
Sociological
Association’s (BSA)
code of practice to
keep intrusions into
individuals privacy to
a minimum.
Confidentiality
• The BSA code of practice suggests that
researchers should maintain the
confidentiality of their respondents.
• In writing up research conclusions
sociologists should remove names from
questionnaires or apply false names to case
studies and observations
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