Investigating Society » Ethics in Sociological Research

Right and wrong in research

Sociologists study real people. Those people have feelings, secrets and lives that can be damaged by careless research. So a researcher must ask two questions: "Will this give me good evidence?" and "Is it the right thing to do?" The second question is about ethics.

Key terms:

• Ethics: rules about what is morally right and wrong. Ethical issues are the moral problems a researcher must think about when studying people.

Universities and research organisations usually have an ethics committee that checks a research plan before the work starts. Cambridge lists five ethical issues you need to know.

1. Informed consent

People should only take part if they agree, and they can only agree properly if they know what they are agreeing to.

Key terms:

• Informed consent: a person agrees to take part after being told what the research is about, what they will have to do, how the results will be used and that they can stop at any time.

Researchers usually give people an information sheet and ask them to sign a consent form. Taking part must be voluntary, so no one should be pushed into it.

Which methods raise this issue? Covert observation is the clearest case, because the group does not know it is being studied, so it cannot agree. Even a questionnaire needs a short note saying what it is for.

2. Privacy and confidentiality

People have a right to keep their lives and views private. What they tell a researcher should not be passed on in a way that harms them.

Key terms:

• Privacy: a person's right to keep their personal life and information to themselves.
• Confidentiality: the researcher agrees not to share what a person has told them with anyone else.
• Anonymity: no one reading the findings can tell who took part, because names and other identifying details are left out.

How researchers protect privacy

Which methods raise this issue? Interviews and observations are the most at risk, because the researcher hears personal stories face to face and may use direct quotations. Small samples make it easier to identify people, even without names. Online questionnaires can raise the issue too, if answers are linked to an email address.

3. Deception

Key terms:

• Deception: misleading people about the research, either by lying to them or by not telling them the truth about what is going on.
• Debriefing: telling participants the full truth about the research once it is over.

Deception breaks informed consent, because people cannot agree to something they have been lied to about. It can also make people feel foolish or betrayed once they find out.

So why do researchers ever do it? Sometimes people behave differently when they know they are being watched. Covert observation avoids that, and can give more valid evidence. This is the ethical dilemma: the best data may come from the least ethical method.

How researchers deal with it:

• Avoid deception wherever possible and choose an overt method instead.
• If it is truly needed, keep it to a minimum and get approval from an ethics committee first.
• Hold a debriefing afterwards: explain why it was done and let participants withdraw their information if they want.

4. Prevention of harm

Research must not leave people worse off. Harm can be physical, but in sociology it is more often emotional or social.

How researchers deal with it: think carefully about sensitive questions, tell participants they can skip a question or stop at any time, and offer information on where to get help. Researchers also need to think about their own safety when they go into risky places.

5. Legality

Key terms:

• Legality: research must stay within the law, and researchers must obey the law of the place where they work.

Laws differ between societies, but they often cover protecting personal data, protecting children and not entering private property without permission. A difficult case is when a researcher learns about a crime. Studying a criminal group may mean seeing illegal acts, so a researcher might have to choose between keeping confidentiality and obeying the law. Researchers should decide their position in advance and tell participants where they stand.

Young and vulnerable people

Children and vulnerable people (for example people who are ill, very poor, grieving or in trouble with the law) need extra protection. They may not fully understand what they are agreeing to, or may feel unable to say no to an adult.

• Get the consent of a parent or guardian as well as the young person's own agreement.
• Use simple, clear language so they can understand what is being asked.
• Make it clear that they can say no or stop at any time.
• Take extra care over sensitive topics and the place where the research happens.

The ethical issues often pull against each other. A researcher who wants honest answers from young people must balance the wish for good data against the need to protect them.

Worked example

Exam-style question

Source A: A sociologist (this is a made-up study) wanted to understand how a group of 14-year-old skateboarders felt about being moved on from a public square. She joined the group for three months and did not tell them she was a researcher.

(a) Identify two ethical issues raised by the sociologist's method. [2 marks]

(b) Explain one way the sociologist could reduce the harm to the skateboarders. [2 marks]

(c) Explain two ethical issues, other than those in (a), that the sociologist would need to consider when researching young people. [4 marks]