Sociological Research Ethics

Ethics are Moral principles that govern a person's or group's behaviour. Sociological research sets out to gather data about the social world make correlations and develop theories. The first aim of the research is to gain information. Once you gather the data, it can be helpful to explore the relationships, showing that the two things are linked in some way. The final task is to develop a theory, a simple explanation of social events. These help to explain why certain social events occur.
Research can have a large impact on people’s lives; hence it is important that the researcher thinks very carefully about how they ought to behave so no harm comes to the subjects of the research or to the society in general. There are 5 ethical issues of concern. The research participants should be offered the right to refuse. The researcher should also tell them about relevant aspects of the research so that they can make a fully informed decision. Consent should be taken from the participants before starting the research, and if the research is long, then participants should be reminded in the process.
Researcher should keep the identity of the participant’s secret in order to prevent the negative effects. The researchers should also respect the privacy of the participants. Personal information should be kept confidential.
Such as when studying children at school, researchers need to make sure the children are protected and that consent is obtained from both the parent and the child. Sometimes it is also essential that the researchers identity and research purpose are hidden from the people being studied as this can create ethical problems such as the participants deceiving or lying in order to win their trust or obtain information. It is clearly impossible to gain informed consent while at the same time keeping the research a