reading 4 (p. 175-185) Flashcards
ethical research
professional practice undertaken in accordance with a code of ethics (principles of conduct) for a given profession or group
- specific to professions
- all professions unethical = e.g. causing harm to individuals, breaching confidentiality, using information improperly, introducing bias
ethics
principles of conduct
- ethical problems increasingly important in guiding research since late 1990s or so (before then researcher didn’t really have to think about it)
- Ethical scrutiny is now something that nearly all research is required to go through (often ethics committees based on guidelines from e.g. British Sociological Association)
ethical scrutiny is designed to protect research participants + protect unis (makes sure no researchers can go out of line and create a legal risk for the uni)
research participants
everyone directly involved in a research project
+
everyone that is likely to be affected by the findings of the project
3 main headings ethical issues
- seeking consent
- maintaining confidentiality
- the possibility of causing harm to participants
- informed consent
= requires that the researcher tell participants about the purpose and likely benefits of the study, the process through which participants were selected, procedures that will be followed, and any risk for the subject
consent must be completely voluntary and uncoerced
+ providing incentives to participate is unethical
+ obtaining consent from marginalized or vulnerable populations requires extra attention (not everyone is deemed competent to make an informed decision)
- researcher must make identity known
- researcher must make purpose of research known
- researcher must let informants withdraw at any moment if they wish to do so + explicitly say this
problem = it may be necessary for participants to remain uninformed about hypotheses to make sure the results are unbiased -> sometimes deception is necessary (in that case, it + its reason must be explained afterwards)
participants should have sufficient information
disguised/covert participation
type of observation that happens without the informants’ knowledge
-> they can’t express whether or not they want to be involved
leads to ethical discussions (now most ethical conducts see it as unjustified/unethical + harming dignity and autonomy)
sufficient information for informed consent
researcher must inform:
- type of info being sought (e.g. if it will be sensitive questions)
- reason info is being sought
- how info will be used
- how they will be expected to participate
- how their participation will directly or indirectly affect them
- maintaining confidentiality
informants have right to privacy
informant may decide what information they are prepared to make public
informants have a right to anonymity (esp. if it could be detrimental to the participant later)
- e.g. in ethnographic research you can use pseudonyms for names or even make the field site anonymous
sharing info about a respondent with other for purposes other than research is UNETHICAL
- the possibility of causing harm to others
harm = things as discomfort, anxiety, harassment, invasion of privacy, or demeaning or dehumanising procedures
risk should be minimal (not greater than ordinarily encountered in daily life)
!counts for harm during but also possible after (e.g. when details about people are made public)
!harm can come from the act of research: e.g. research about racism could reinforce racist practices + about football hooligans might reinforce their violence (to impress the researcher)
ethical issues to consider relating to the researcher
- avoid bias (deliberate attempt to hide what you have found or to highlight something disproportionally)
- incorrect reporting (changing or slanting findings to serve your own or someone else’s interest)
- inappropriate use of info (in a way that directly or indirectly affects participants adversaly)
bias
- deliberate attempt to hide what you have found
- or to highlight something disproportionally to its true existence
ethical issues regarding the sponsoring organization
- restrictions imposed by the sponsoring organization (it is unethical for sponsors to impose controls and restrictions on the research in a way that may stand in the way of obtaining and disseminating accurate info)
- misuse of information (how they use info + how this might influence the study population)
additional thing that researchers have an ethical obligation to do
to facilitate the evaluation of their evidence-based knowledge claims through data access, production transparency (how they collected the data), and analytic transparency (how they drew conclusions) so that their work can be tested or replicated
