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 Back to Lesson Home