Another issue is “deception”. This means that information is withheld from participants and/or they are provided with false information. The people being studied may be unaware that they are being observed. This issue relates to informed consent, as participants cannot give it if they are being deceived. Research is often difficult and would sometime become irrelevant, however, if participants knew they were being observed. It may cause them to act differently and therefore the research is invalid. Some researchers argue that deception is justifiable if there is no other way of gathering information. Milgram deceived all the teacher participants in his study when he got actors to pretend they were being given electric shocks by the participants when they got questions wrong. 65% of the time, the teacher would supposedly “give an electric shock” of a high enough voltage to kill the person being shocked. This could be dangerous as it may psychologically damage the people involved when they find out it was a set up and if it were real they would have killed the other person.
The third issue is “privacy”. Researchers mostly agree that participants’ privacy should always be respected. However, it is a problem that most research intrudes people’s lives. It has been argued that if the participant gives consent it is acceptable, although sometimes the people involved may not be aware of the extent of how much their privacy will be invaded. Some research methods that are considered ethical may result in an invasion of privacy. For example, the informal, unstructured interview may develop into a friendly chat between the researcher and the participant, in this relaxed atmosphere the participant may forget they are being observed and give out information that they would not normally and might later regret it. Paul Willis may have had a problem with privacy when he did his research. He openly observed a gang of teenage boys and researched their attitudes towards school and others around them. As this observation was open, it may have encouraged the “lads” to be more exaggerated with their comments and actions and do things they would not normally to “show off”. Afterwards the conclusions Willis had drawn would not be accurate and the way the “lads” were portrayed may offend them. Also, around friends the participants would tend to relax more and sometimes forget the observer is there. This may encourage them to release private or personal information they would not normally under observation conditions.
The fourth issue is “protection from harm”. There is a general agreement that research participants should be protected from harm. This includes everything from the time when the research is taking place, and the long-term effects (if any) afterwards. Sometimes the conclusions from the information obtained could be harmful to those who participated in the research. It could mean people find out things about themselves that they did not/did not want to know. Bandura et al’s research could prove harmful. It involved testing aggression in young children to see it if was effected by what was shown to the children. The data showed that certain things, which made them act more aggressively, affected children. This could be damaging to the child when they are older to find out about themselves. Also they were not old enough to give informed consent so the parents did it, the children may later on resent the fact they were used when they were too young to object.
Another issue is “ethics and the research process”. All researchers have values that define what is right and wrong. These ethical values will to some extent affect every stage of the research process. If a researcher finds a particular subject ethically wrong, they may choose to study it in order to reveal the wrongs and try and find a way to right them.
The last issue is “confidentiality”. Most researchers believe the identity of the participants should remain private. According to the British Sociological Associations Statement of Ethical Practice (1996), confidentiality must be honoured “unless there are clear overriding reasons to do otherwise”. This statement seems quite vague as what one researcher would class as an “overriding reason” another may not. It has been argued that when people in powerful positions misuse their power then there may be cause for naming names. One survey that stays confidential under every circumstance is the National Sex Survey. The data acquired from this must remain confidential, as sex is a sensitive subject to some people. Releasing information collected from this could not only be embarrassing for the person who filled out the questionnaire, but it could also lead to other people filling it out to answer untruthfully if they think there is a chance they may get singled out and the information they gave shared with others. The guarantee has to be: I will respect your confidentiality provided I am not made aware of things I cannot keep a secret.
In conclusion, without ethical issues being taken into consideration, a lot of physical or psychological damage could occur. All of the above factors must be taken into consideration when designing research, although how a particular sociologist deals with ethical issues will depend on their own ethical values. It also depends on what sort of person the researcher is, are they highly principled? Or are they willing to cut a few corners to make their research easier or more accurate? How strict a researcher is can definitely benefit/ruin their research. Telling the complete truth to participants about the research could undermine the research or cause research problems, as if the participants know they are being observed it could cause them to act very differently. A lot of issues are not straightforward, some conflict and often need a great deal of thought put into them. To do completely accurate and valid research, the balance between respecting participants’ privacy, not deceiving them, being careful not to put them at risk of harm and making sure the data collected is true has to be right, and this is a difficult balance to get.