Ethical Issues - Expaining and overcoming

What is meant by ethical issues?

Ethics are moral principles about what is right and wrong which guide sociological research

What does sociological research have to conform to?

Guidelines set by the British Sociological Association

What is meant by informed consent?

Participants should be given the opportunity to agree to or refuse to participate in research, which should be an informed decision – information (eg aims of research, what research involves, purpose of findings) must be available for participants to base a decision. Participants should have the right to withdraw their consent and walk away from anytime.

When is informed consent not needed?

When search is taking place in public places as there is no expectation of privacy

What is an example of informed consent?

James Patrick did not gain consent when observing the Glasgow gang

What is meant by avoiding harm?

Researchers must ensure that those taking part in the research will not be caused distress and must be protected from physical, mental, and social harm from the study. This includes harmful effects from participating and consequences from research after being published

What is an example of avoiding harm?

Zimbardo’s participants experienced stress and anxiety during the prison experiment

What is meant by anonymity?

Publication of research must not identify any individuals who have participated in the research so names of individuals, organisations and institutions should not be published so participants can be encouraged to be open and honest without information being directly linked back to them. Researchers may use pseudonyms to protect the identity of participants

What is an example of anonymity?

James Patrick changes the names of boys in gang and his own name and waited years to publish his study on the illegal activity of the gang

What is meant by deception?

Participants should not be deceived and information should not be false or withheld from participants. Deception can also involve when the participant is not aware they are part of a research study (covert participant observation) or misled about the purpose of the study.

What do some researchers think about deception?

Deception is justified if there is no other way of gathering data such as studying hard to access groups

What is an example of deception?

James Patrick deceived members of gang as they did not know they were part of a study

What is meant by confidentiality?

Data collected from the research process should be stored securely to ensure it is only accessed by authorised individuals and should be stored in accordance with GDPR regulations that established legal obligations for researchers and data is only used for research purposes

What is an example of confidentiality?

James Patrick changed his and the boys name and waited years to publish data

What is meant by sensitivity?

Researchers should take great care when conducting research on sensitive issues or vulnerable groups. Participants should not be placed under emotional pressure and should be supported through the research process if they feel they need help about any issues that arise during the research process.

What is an example of sensitivity?

Dobash and Dobash felt unstructured interviews were best when interviewing victims of domestic abuse

What is meant by right to withdraw?

Participants should be able to leave a study at any time if they feel uncomfortable and they should also be allowed to withdraw their data. They should be told at the start of the study that they have the right to withdraw and not have pressure placed upon them to continue if they do not want to

What is meant by debrief?

After the research is over, the participant should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the researcher.

What must happen during the debrief?

Participants must be given a general idea of the investigation and why, their part in the research should be explained, be told if they have been deceived and why. If they have any questions and those questions should be answered honestly and as fully as possible.

When should debriefing take place?

Debriefing should take place as soon as possible and be as full as possible and researchers should take reasonable steps to ensure that participants understand debriefing

What is the aim of debriefing?

Not just to provide information, but to help the participant leave the study in a similar frame of mind as when they entered it