Chapter 5

Ethics and Politics in

Social Research

Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e

Authored by Susie Scott

Introduction

• unresolved debates about the role of values in social research

• emphasis on infamous, extreme cases• ethical issues pervade all research methods• professional associations

– BSA - Statement of Ethical Practice– SRA - Ethical Guidelines

• ethics committees

See page 113

Ethical stances

• Universalism– absolute rules about un/acceptable conduct

• Situation ethics– case-by-case assessment

– principled relativism

– the end justifies the means?

– no choice?

See page 116

Ethical stances

• Ethical transgression is pervasive– virtually all research involves some ethically questionable

practices– participants never fully informed about research

• Anything goes (more or less)– do whatever is necessary to get people to talk– Douglas (1976): deception in social research is relatively

trivial – Denzin (1968): but do not harm participants

See page 116

Ethical principles

• Harm to participants– physical, psychological, emotional, stress, loss of self-

esteem, harm to development, and ‘uncalled-for self knowledge’ (BSA)

– e.g. Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968)• disadvantaged the intellectual development of non-spurters?

– e.g. Milgram (1963) • electric shocks experiment: stress and anxiety?

– confidential records - risk of identifying information• ethnographic studies of small towns or groups

See page 118

Ethical principles

• Informed consent– covert observation: participants not given choice to refuse

• e.g. Humphreys (1970) - ‘watchqueen’ in a ‘tearoom’• e.g. Holdaway (1982, 1983) - undercover in a police force

– explain the research as fully as possible and in terms meaningful to participants (BSA)

– informed decision about whether to participate– but may not be practicable or desirable to inform all

participants

See page 121

Ethical principles

• Informed consent– BSA/SRA professional codes do condone some covert

observation• where it is impossible to use other methods to obtain essential

data

• e.g. deviant behaviour, gaining access to closed settings, avoiding problem of reactivity

– decisions often made on the basis of anticipated rather than actual difficulty

– if non-consenting participants are harmed, researcher is more culpable

See page 122

Ethical principles

• Invasion of privacy– linked to informed consent

– but giving consent does not equal abrogating the right to privacy

– covert observation: no opportunity to refuse

– anonymity and confidentiality of data

– records of personal information

See page 123

Ethical principles

• Deception– when social research is presented as something other

than what it is– participants believe they are doing one thing when really

they are doing another (e.g. Milgram, 1963)– widespread - researchers usually want to limit

participants’ understanding– compromises professional self-interest and reputation of

the discipline

See page 124

The difficulties of ethical decision-making

• blurred boundary between ethical and unethical practices

• potential for deception / lack of informed consent pervades most social research

• little guidance on marginal areas of research• Internet-based research provides new ethical

dilemmas– public access vs. perceived privacy (King, 1996)

See page 128