Ethical Dilemmas in Social Research

1982 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan E. Sieber
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas

scholarly journals Ethical Aspects of Social Research: Old Concerns in the Face of New Challenges and Paradoxes. A Reflection from the Field of Biographical Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-135
Author(s):  
Kaja Kaźmierska
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Data Archiving

The paper deals with the ethical aspects of the research process and contemporary changes in this field, which make the discussion on ethical dilemmas and concerns more dynamic and varied. Although in natural science and social sciences one can find a common ground related to the most general ethical principles. In the article I refer primarily to the social sciences. The article discusses three aspects affecting the dynamics of ethical discussions: the development of research in the field of natural sciences leading to many ethical dilemmas and forcing ethical codification of research proceedings also in the area of social sciences; the increase in sensitivity and social consciousness and not only awareness of research as such (processes of democratization, emphasizing human and animal rights, protection of minority rights, the process of individualization); the dynamics of contemporary social changes resulting from the development of technology, especially the Internet, which has become a global resource of data and their exchange. This forces qualitative researchers to consider the issue of data archiving, their reanalysis, and determining the boundary for creating Big Qualidata from them. The article discusses these three dimensions, with particular emphasis on the last of them, which will be commented on in relation to the specific methodological approach, which is biographical research.

scholarly journals Aesthetics, verisimilitude and user engagement: reporting findings through fictional accounts in qualitative inquiry

2020 ◽  
pp. 146879412092576
Author(s):  
Will Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Evaluative Criteria ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Aesthetic Engagement ◽  
And Training

This article explores the use of fiction as a mode of representing data in social research. I show that three of the key drivers for fictionalising research accounts relate to the ambitions of aesthetic engagement, verisimilitude and user engagement. I look at the different ways that authors have attempted to achieve these ambitions and the methodological tensions that arise from them. I show that contemporary evaluative criteria in qualitative inquiry helps us to understand that fictional reporting is an important tool for researchers in creating more affective writing. However, there are divergences in how researchers conceive of and use fictional accounts, which highlight the importance of continued debate about the methodological practices of its use. In order to contribute to these debates I point to three areas that need particular consideration for researchers working in this area: (1) the structures of academic publishing and their embodiment in university audit regimes; (2) the absence of engagement with alternative forms of writing in academic professional development and training; and (3) the substantial ethical dilemmas in the use of fictional accounts.

scholarly journals Ethical Dilemmas Using Social Media in Qualitative Social Research: A Case Study of Online Participant Observation

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kath Hennell ◽  
Mark Limmer ◽  
Maria Piacentini
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Qualitative Social Research ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Social media platforms that enable users to create and share online content with others are used increasingly in social research. This article explores the complex ethical issues associated with using social media for data collection, drawing on a study of the alcohol consumption practices of young people. It aims to contribute to debates about the practical and ethical challenges facing researchers using social media as a data collection tool, and to demonstrate how a reflexive approach to the research and the context in which the research takes place is critically important for supporting and enabling an ethical approach. The article concludes by recommending that researchers who face ethical dilemmas associated with the use of social media maintain an ongoing dialogue with their relevant ethics committees and other researchers to identify potential solutions and to share their findings.

scholarly journals Everyday Life from a Sacral Perspective. Individual Entries in Prayer Books of Intentions as Material for Social Research

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 968
Author(s):  
Rafał Cekiera
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Prayer Books ◽  
Source Materials

This paper presents the exploratory potential of entries in prayer books of intentions displayed in places of worship and in their online counterparts—virtual boxes of intentions. By reporting the happiness, dramas, and the whole element of human existence, individual prayer intentions are extremely authentic and valuable source materials. Their analysis requires extraordinary ethical sensitivity on the part of the researcher. Based on a review of previous research explorations and my own research, a four-dimensional model of analysis is proposed, consisting of the following areas: axionormative, communitarian, communicative, and ordinary theology. It can be useful for developing analyses of such documents and also allows for comparative research. The text also discusses the limitations associated with such analyses and briefly signals the basic ethical dilemmas and possible directions for further research using prayer entries.

scholarly journals Ethical Considerations in Conducting Family Violence Research

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vashti Berry
Keyword(s):  
Family Violence ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Ethics Committee ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Effects On Children ◽  
The Uk

There is a lack of procedure in the UK guiding social researchers faced with ethical questions. In particular, investigators concerned with family violence and its effects on children face some of the most complex ethical dilemmas in social research and there is a need for greater transparency of ethical procedures. This paper summarizes some key ethical principles guiding social research focused on children, and the decisions that researchers face when conducting studies in the area of child maltreatment or domestic violence. A case example of a study conducted in Dublin, Ireland is used to illustrate difficulties surrounding decisions of informed consent, confidentiality and disclosure, distress and danger, and questioning children directly about their experiences of family violence. The advice of the ethics committee and the solutions agreed by the research team are shared. While the study was subject to a review by an independent ethics committee, in the absence of nationally-recognized or agreed guidelines, good ethical practice is largely dependent upon the moral judgments of the research team. It is hoped that by providing one such case example, others might be encouraged to report on their own ethical protocols and procedures.

scholarly journals Sociology and Digital Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Carlos Miguel Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Sociological Knowledge ◽  
Digital Society ◽  
Interdisciplinary Dialogue ◽  
Major Implication ◽  
Reflective Capacity ◽  
Critical Understanding

The society increasingly based on digital culture is already an unavoidable reality. This paper aims to contribute, in a preliminary way, to understand several of the implications in Sociology that this propagation of digital culture involves through a bibliographical review. We analyse several implications in dimensions such as the very purpose of Sociology (highlighting digital literacy and the level of democracy) and social research (addressing issues raised by the big date, the interdisciplinary dialogue between Sociology and other scientific areas, and new ethical dilemmas). We conclude that there are profound implications both in the research object and in the research processes of Sociology, which we will develop in later phases of the dissemination of this research. As a major implication, the reflective capacity of sociological knowledge is central to the preparation for this new reality, but, at the same time, also to a well-founded critical understanding of digital society.

scholarly journals Causes of deficits and ethical dilemmas in scientific research

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 17-31
Author(s):  
Danuta Walczak-Duraj
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Data Publishing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conducting Research

The analysis of the deficits and ethical dilemmas in research will be related to two disciplines of the social sciences: sociology and economics. Research conducted within these disciplines, because of its multi-paradigm nature, tends to be characterized by deficits, not only ethical but also ethical and methodological dilemmas and interpretation reasons. The leading thesis of this paper aims to argue that the looming deficits and ethical dilemmas of Polish researchers in the field of social sciences are two basic but very different premises. The first group of reasons primarily refers to broad ethical deficits, perceived unreliableness in terms of scientific research. It is related mainly to the structural aspects of the functioning of universities and other research units and logic parameterization. In the ethical programs (especially codes of ethics), ethical deficits are identified in three areas of “activity” of research related to the description, diagnosis and interpretation of the results relating to: bragging—e.g. the preparation, recording and publishing of the results that were not obtained; falsification—which means manipulating the research materials, equipment or method, replacing or bypassing the data in such a way that the results are not presented in a true way; plagiarism—the appropriation of other people ideas, methods, results, or terms without proper reference. Plagiarism is also the unauthorized use of information obtained through confidential review of proposals and manuscripts, or e.g. using conference presentations without permission. Its structural evidence is primarily the emphasis on “productivity” and parameterization as the basic criterion, not only of scientific but also academic success-oriented and personalized careers. The second group of reasons refers primarily to broad ethical dilemmas; to the ethical context of social research at every stage of the proceedings: conceptualization, selection of methods, techniques and research tools, conducting research (which concern, for example, the covert participant observation), analysis and interpretation of data, publishing developed and interpreted empirical material. Performing even a cursory analysis of how to present research findings in these two disciplines, you can come to the conclusion that the methodological competence of the investigator does not always go hand in hand with ethical competence. What is more, there is a tendency to downplay the principle that the social sciences should be guided by the principle of the so-called humanistic coefficient.

scholarly journals Challenges in the study of religious values

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-52
Author(s):  
Dziedzorm Asafo
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Religious Orientations

There have been calls to take the transcendence and sacred in African thought seriously. The purpose of the discussion in this paper is to highlight some of the difficulties faced by researchers in their investigation and measurement of religious orientations: Broad areas discussed include theoretical, methodological, and ethical problems associated with social research in general but particularly with religious studies in Africa. The awareness of the theoretical, methodological, ideological and ethical dilemmas involved in social research may enhance the work of researchers in their contribution to knowledge and understanding of cultures.

Ethical Dilemmas in Nonclinical Health Research from a UK Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Grinyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Health Related Research ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Health Field

This article examines the ethical dilemmas faced by professional and academic researchers in the health field who undertake nonclinical or social research among patients or staff. The experiences of health researchers and health professionals in the UK are directly relevant to those undertaking similar health-related research in other parts of the world at a time when nonclinical research in health care is becoming widespread in all countries and cultures. This article addresses ethical dilemmas as they relate to researchers’ ability to maintain confidentiality, their commitment to the welfare of respondents, and the tensions that arise from undertaking research for an employer. In addition, the danger of conducting covert research inadvertently may present unexpected ethical problems, which are discussed. Although it is impossible to provide a policy document to address all ethical dilemmas, this article does attempt to address the question of how best to approach health-related research in order to minimize the possibility of running into ethical problems at a later stage.

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