Ethics in Social Research

Ethics in Social Research

• Ethics ensures the responsible and moral conduct of studies.
• Students should understand the importance of ethics.
• Students should be aware of their moral duties as researchers.
• Important concepts include right to privacy, voluntary participation, informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, deception, and risk/benefit analysis.

Defining Ethics

• Ethics (from the Greek "ethos") refers to character.
• Ethics involves morality, integrity, fairness, and truthfulness.
• Ethical principles are culturally defined.
• Ethics serve as guidelines for behavior.
• Ethics represent code of conduct observed by groups, professions, and organizations.

Dimensions of Ethical Conduct

• Philosophical dimension is based on a researcher's value system and beliefs.
• Praxis refers to what researchers actually do in practice.
• Reflexivity addresses how power dynamics influence the research process.
• Patricia Leavy is credited as the source of this information (2017).

Why is Ethics Important?

• Ethics ensure the safety and protect the interests of all involved in the research.
• Researchers have ethical responsibilities to themselves.
• Researchers have ethical responsibilities to their subjects/participants.
• Researchers have ethical responsibilities to colleagues and the scientific community.
• Researchers have ethical responsibilities to society.

Ethical Codes

• The British Psychological Association (BPA) provides ethical guidelines.
• The British Sociological Association (BSA) provides ethical guidelines.
• The American Psychological Association (APA) provides ethical guidelines.
• The American Sociological Association (ASA) provides ethical guidelines.
• The Social Research Association (SRA) provides ethical guidelines.
• Ethics committees assess the scientific quality of research proposals.
• Ethics committees ensure that research is ethically sound.
• Ethics committees ensure studies adhere to ethical codes.

Ethical Theory

• Murphy and Dingwall are credited with Ethical Theory (2001).
• Non-maleficence is the principle of not causing harm or doing evil intentionally.
• Autonomy or self-determination (respect) means participants' values and dignity should be respected.
• Beneficence involves producing positive benefits for the participant.
• Justice entails equal treatment for all.

Avoiding Harm

• Research participants should never be injured physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, or psychologically.

Voluntary Participation

• No one should be forced to participate in research.
• Vulnerable groups need special protection.
• Vulnerable groups include those with limited education, the poor, and those without easy access to health services.
• Vulnerable groups include women, people in prison, sex workers, and gay or lesbian people.

Informed Consent

• Participants must base their voluntary participation on a full understanding of potential risks.
• Informed consent represents a contract for participation in a study.
• Informed consent is typically documented with a signed form.
• Informed consent can be verbally obtained in some situations.
• Participants should be informed of the basic goals and purpose of the study.
• Participants must consent to the use of their data.
• Participants can withdraw at any time, and their data should be destroyed if requested.
• Subjects should agree to participate based on complete and truthful information about the study's nature, purpose, and risks.
• Individuals must be competent to consent.
• Persons should be adequately informed.
• Consent should be voluntary.
• Extra caution and care must be taken with vulnerable groups.

Content of Consent Forms

• Consent forms should state what participants are being asked to do.
• Consent forms should identify who is making the request.
• Consent forms should state the purpose of the research.
• Participants must know the researcher's identity and affiliations.
• Participants must know who to contact if problems arise.
• Participants should be informed of any risks of participating in the research.
• Participants should also be told what rights they have, particularly the right to review material.
• Participants have the right to withdraw from the process.
• Consent forms should state whether or not participants' names will be used.
• Consent forms should state if other names will be used, or whether pseudonyms will be substituted.
• Consent forms should indicate how the study's results will be disseminated.
• Consent forms should indicate whether participants can expect to benefit from participating in the study.
• Participants should know they are free to participate or not without prejudice.
• For children, consent must be signed by the child's legal guardian.
• Children cannot be expected to give total informed consent.

Rules of Consent Acronym

• C- competent (participant is competent).
• O- open to making a decision (participant has legal and psychological capacity).
• N- necessary background to make the decision.
• S- steps to follow if they agree or disagree.
• E- explanation of the steps.
• N- notify someone of their involvement
• T- tick a box or sign a form to indicate their decision to voluntarily participate.

Other Forms of Consent

• Consent covers a spectrum of interactions requiring varying degrees of communication.
• When the risk is small, the law may recognize imputed consent.
• Imputed consent is assumed based on what researchers already know about people.
• Implied consent is presumed based on a person's action.
• The greater the potential for harm, the greater the need for informed consent.

Scenario Considerations

• Researchers asked potential participants to sign a consent form before the research began.
• A participant wanted to take part in research but could not read and did not want to sign a form that he could not read.
• The participant asked if he could be interviewed without signing the consent form.
• A study examines students' attitudes toward the science instruction they are receiving.
• Researchers obtained student and parent permissions from students in a science class to complete a rating anonymously.
• You may need to obtain other permission.
• Informing a teacher you're studying students' attitudes when the real goal is about teacher success may be an ethical problem.

Anonymity

• The researcher cannot identify a given response with a given respondent.
• Readers of research reports cannot identify who gave particular responses.

Confidentiality

• The researcher can identify a given person's responses but promises not to do so publicly.
• Pseudonyms may be used in interview research to protect confidentiality.

Ethical Issues and Dilemmas

• You must consider what to do if research participants are engaged in illegal activities, or actions which is likely to cause harm.
• BERA 2004 (para 18) gives advice on researchers' consideration if they have made agreements with participants, on confidentiality and anonymity, will allow continuation of illegal behavior.
• Reference should be made to this issue in the information to participants at the outset before they consent to to decline participation.

Deception

• Deception is a widely debated issue that violates informed consent.
• It may be necessary to mislead subjects based on aim and objectives of study.
• Deception should occur only if knowledge is deemed for the greater good of society.
• One must consider if societal interest can supersede that of the individual respondent.
• Humphrey's covert observation of homosexual behavior is an example of deception.
• Milgram's obedience to authority experiment offers another example of deception.

Debriefing

• Debriefing includes complete information about the study and explain to the participant the necessity of misleading information.
• You must ensure that no psychological harm happened.
• A researcher completes a study looking at how people cope with chronic diseases and interviews those people.
• You must consider if debriefing will be enough to erase interviewees' trauma.

Milgram Experiment

• Participants imitated a laboratory-based World War II controversy.
• Participants were assigned the role of "teacher."
• The teacher's role was to teach a list of words to the "pupil."
• If the pupil got the word wrong, the teacher administered increasing levels of electrical shocks.

Laud Humphreys

• Studied homosexual activities in public restrooms in parks.
• The researcher volunteered to become "watch queen"
• The researcher told participants he was a voyeur-participant.
• The researcher collected personal information about participants (license numbers of cars).
• The researcher traced participants to their homes and interviewed them under false pretenses.
• The controversy surrounding Laud Humphreys' study of homosexuals suggests that he most violated ethical principles.

Scientific Community

• Researchers should always abide by the rules of science including collection/processing of data.
• Methods of science including collection and processing of data should be transparent.
• Findings should be reported responsibly, without additions or omissions.
• Researchers should respect literary and property rights.
• There should be no plagiarism.
• Materials such as tapes and transcripts should be stored safely.

Researcher's Human Qualities

• Integrity.
• Respect.
• Compassion.
• Professionalism.
• Courtesy.
• Sensitivity.

Concluding Remarks

• Science progresses through honesty and openness.
• Researchers are expected to abide by the norms of the scientific community in their pursuit of objective knowledge.