Chapter 3: Research ethics
Chapter Outline
- Human subjects research (19 minute read)
- Specific ethical issues to consider (12 minute read)
- Benefits and harms of research across the ecosystem (7 minute read)
- Being an ethical researcher (8 minute read)
Content warning: examples in this chapter contain references to numerous incidents of unethical medical experimentation (e.g. intentionally injecting diseases into unknowing participants, withholding proven treatments) and inhumane medical procedures involving LGB communities, social experimentation under extreme conditions, violations of privacy, gender and racial inequality, research with people who are incarcerated or on parole, experimentation on animals, abuse of people with autism, community interactions with law enforcement, and Nazi war crimes during World War II (especially related to research on humans).
Recall our discussion in Chapter 2 on practical and ethical considerations that emerge as part of the research process. In this chapter, we will expound on the ethical boundaries that social scientists must abide by when conducting human subjects research. As a result of reading this chapter, you should have a better sense of what is possible and ethical for the research project you create.