Ethical issues and issues of sensitivity are something that sociological researchers need to treat carefully- using examples illustrate why this is so?

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Ethical issues and issues of sensitivity are something that sociological researchers need to treat carefully- using examples illustrate why this is so

Ethical issues are the considerations that can have an important influence on the research process. They are moral principles- beliefs about what is right and wrong, which often guide research. Sociological associations in many countries have a set of ethical guidelines for conducting research. There are six main ethical issues; I will explore them below.

Sensitive issues are issues that need to be dealt with tactfully because of their subject matter. This could include subjects such as death, health issues, sex etc. These are potentially sensitive subjects as the people being researched may have had an unpleasant situation with them.

The first ethical issue I will investigate is “informed consent”. This is the idea that those the researchers are studying should be given the opportunity to agree or refuse to participate in the research. This means covert observation could not take place, as this involves not letting people know they are being observed. Informed consent means that the researcher must provide information about the aims of the research, what the conduct of the research involves and the purpose to which the research will be put. This issue was raised when James Patrick did his research on “A Glasgow Gang Observed”. This involved him becoming part of a “gang”, only one member of the gang knew he was a researcher undercover. From spending time with the group, he gained information about what they did, what their attitudes were and how far they were willing to go e.g. breaking the law. This research did not involve informed consent, as the majority of the gang did not know they were being observed.

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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 ...

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