THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH
    Voluntary Participation
    No Harm to Subjects
 

    While most of this book focusses on how to do research and why, all these issues operate within an ethical context.  Chapter 18 of the textbook will discuss the ethics of social research in great detail, but it is important that you be conscious of this dimension throughout your studies.

    You will see that there are some research procedures that might be scientifically useful, in the sense of providing data or understanding we would like, but they are unacceptable to social researchers on ethical grounds.  This initial examination of research ethics looks at two of the most basic ethical standards of social research.

    It is essential, for example, that participation in social research be voluntary.  We are vigilant in this respect even when the pressures to participate are subtle, as in when a professor asks students to participate in a survey or an experiment.

    Social research should not harm those who participate in it.  Again, we'll see that the possibilities for harm can be subtle: including mental as well as physical harm.

     This initial discussion is intended to alert you to the ethical dimension of social research.  Subsequent chapters, dealing with specific techniques, will touch again on ethical issues, and Chapter 18 will address the topic in depth.