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1. Ethics in Social Science Research
IFY Social Science
Term 1

2. Content
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• What is ethics?
• Why do we discuss ethics in the context of social research?
• How do ethical consideration shape our research?

3. What is ethics?
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• ‘Ethics’ usually refers to moral principles that one must follow. Ethics is also a branch of
philosophy that deals with moral principles and is often called moral philosophy.
behaving ethically is usually understood as doing the ‘right thing’.
• In the context of social research, however, ‘ethics’ refers to the moral principles that
researchers must follow in their research.
• Procedural ethics refer to the aspects of compliance in performing research. For
example, in some research projects, consent forms may need to be completed before
the data collection can begin.
• ‘Ethics in practice’ refer to the everyday ethical issues that a researcher may encounter
while doing research.

4. Ethical Guidelines for Research
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• In modern day academia, internationally
recognised guidelines are in place to
ensure ethical research.
• These have largely developed in response
to several notorious example of unethical
research (Facial expressions experiment
(1924), Milgram experiment (1963),
Stanford prison experiment (1971), Good
Samaritan experiment (1973) and others).
• Ethical guidelines help the researcher
make the right decisions. Examples include
the Belmont Report (medicine, US 1978),
BERA guidelines (education, UK), UK
Research and Innovation (UKRI) policy,
guidelines on governance of good research
conduct, and the European code of
conduct for research integrity.
Image source: QS Study

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Guidelines examples
For example:
• The Belmont Report (1979) outlined three ethical principles: respect for persons;
beneficence (doing good and avoiding harm); justice (fair distribution of
burden/benefits). It also outlined three practical application: informed consent;
assessment of risk and benefits; selection of subjects.
• BERA guidelines are based on similar principles:
Social science is fundamental to a democratic society, and should be inclusive of
different interests, values, funders, methods and perspectives. […] All social
science should respect the privacy, autonomy, diversity, values and dignity of
individuals, groups and communities. […] All social science should be conducted
with integrity throughout, employing the most appropriate methods for the research
purpose. […] All social scientists should act with regard to their
social responsibilities in conducting and disseminating their research. i.e. All social
science should aim to maximise benefit and minimise harm.
Image source: Bioethics
Research Library

6. Main ethical challenges and considerations for social scientists
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• Informed consent
• Deception in research
• Privacy, confidentiality and
anonymity
• Coercion
• Storing data
• Special volunrability
Image source: UCL

7. Informed Consent
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• A researcher must get permission from
their participants before participating
in their research.
• Informed consent should give
participants enough information to
make a fair assessment of the project.
• Form of consent depends on the type
of respondent, the nature of the
research process and the context.
• There may be several levels of
consent required.
Image source: Userfocus

8. Deception
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• Deception involves withholding information from, or giving false
information to, participants about the topic, hypothesis or
methods of a research project.
• In some cases, researchers argue that it is necessary for them
to be deceptive so they can effectively carry out their research.
• This is particularly the case in ‘covert participant observation.’
For example, if you wanted to study illegal drug taking
behaviour you might have to go ‘undercover’ to be able to study
this particular group of people. If they knew about you or your
research they might refuse to take part or change their
behaviour.
• In various other cases, paraphrasing the aims or a study can be
justified, to avoid influencing the results.
• Difficult to decide what level or deception is acceptable and in
which situations. Image source: Pixers

9. Privacy, Confidentiality and Anonymity
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• Anonymity and confidentiality protect the privacy of
those who voluntarily agree to participate in
research. This can encourage participation, too.
• In a confidential study, the participant is known by
the researcher. The interviewer knows the name of
the participant and may know the address or other
personal, identifying information.
• In an anonymous study, the researcher cannot
trace the data to an individual participant.
• It is very important that the researcher protects the
privacy of the participant.
• Personal information should be replaced with
numerical codes or pseudonyms (made-up
names), and sometimes needs to be locked or
encrypted.
Image source: GroupDynamics

10. Coercion
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• Willingness of participants to volunteer may be
influenced by the expectation of benefits or
rewards. To enhance participation in a research
project and to compensate for people’s time,
researchers often offer a reward or ‘thank you’ gift.
• Small rewards for their time (e.g. an Amazon
voucher) or renumeration for time may be
acceptable. However, too large a gift may make the
participants feel pressured into continuing
participating in a research study they are unsure
of/have changed their mind about.
• Dishonest means of persuasion, such as posing as
a state official, making unrealistic and untrue
promises, targeting people in vulnerable situations,
threatening participants and bribing them must
always be avoided.
Image source: ThinkImmigration

11. Sensitive Data
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• Researchers may uncover information that if revealed could do damage to the participants or to other
people. Therefore, Careful thought must be given to the implications of divulging information to others.
• Because data is often sensitive or confidential, storing it safely and limiting access to it are essential.
For example, Paper-based and audio data should be locked away, computer databases should be
protected by a password, and where transmission of data is essential, it must also be in secured
channels.
• There are also laws that we must abide by.
In the UK: The Data Protection Act (1998) covers all collections of
personal data.
• Researchers should ensure they know who to contact for
support regarding any sensitive information –
safeguarding lead, supervisor, manager etc. Image source: TechPrivacy

12. How can we address these issues?
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1. Record and validate your data. Make the data available, following its use, to professional social scientists.
– Allow oversight from other professionals;
– Keeps a record of the research process;
– Allow collaboration from others on better (less ethically challenging) research methods.
2. Protect the privacy of your subjects and do them no harm.
– Follow proper data protection procedures;
– Ensure the safety of yourself and others e.g. do not carry out research in people’s homes alone;
– Ensure you know who to go to if something arises.
3. Pilot study
– Gives you the chance to ‘practice’ your study and uncover any serious ethical issues before you do
the real thing.

13. Special consideration: Vulnerable participants
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• Vulnerability is a key concern in ethics, and ensuring the needs of vulnerable people involved must be
proved for research to be allowed or funded.
• Different types of vulnerability include:
– Innate/personal - characteristics unique to an individual person that may be sensitive. E.g. health and
psychological issues (anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, self-esteem, obesity, illiteracy, or nonstandard
appearances).
– Structural/contextual/environmental factors. E.g. homeless, drugs abuse, sex work, or living in a war-torn
country.
– Children and young people (teenagers) are always considered vulnerable.
• Careful consideration needs to be taken around issues of consent (are they competent to give consent?),
methods (are they appropriate?), anonymity/confidentiality and safeguarding.
• A researcher must ensure that the vulnerability is not enhanced or made worse by research processes.

14. Summary
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• Ethical guidelines help the researcher to make the right decisions
• Ethical consideration include: informed consent, deception in research,
privacy, coercion, sensitive topics and storing of the data
• Key focal points include:
• recording and validating your data
• protecting the privacy of research subjects and doing them no harm
• giving special consideration to vulnerable participants