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Specific Ethical Issues to Consider

16 February, 2016 - 11:59

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Define informed consent, and describe how it works.
  2. Identify the unique concerns related to the study of vulnerable populations.
  3. Understand the definitions of and the differences between anonymity and confidentiality.
  4. Explain the five general principles of the American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics.

As should be clear by now, conducting research on humans presents a number of unique ethical considerations. Human research subjects must be given the opportunity to consent to their participation in research. Further, subjects’ identities and the information they share should be protected by researchers. Of course, how consent and identity protection are defined may vary by individual researcher, institution, or academic discipline. In "Research on Humans", we examined the role that institutions play in shaping research ethics. In this section, we’ll take a look at a few specific topics that individual researchers and sociologists in general must consider before embarking on research with human subjects.