What does confidentiality mean?

participants' personal information is kept private. People must not be identifiable.

Which research design involves deception?

covert participant observation. The researcher hides the fact that research is taking place.

What is meant by prevention of harm?

making sure participants do not suffer because of the research. Harm includes distress and embarrassment as well as injury.

What must a researcher do before interviewing a 12-year-old?

obtain consent from the child and from a parent. Children cannot give full consent alone.

A participant in an interview becomes upset and asks to stop. What should the researcher do?

stop, because participants have the right to withdraw and must not be harmed. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.

Ethical issues in research · Cambridge IGCSE Sociology

In plain words

Sociologists study people, and people can be hurt, embarrassed or exposed. Ethics is the set of rules that puts their well-being ahead of the researcher's curiosity.

7 things to know

Ethical issues are questions of right and wrong in the way research is carried out.
Informed consent: people agree to take part, knowing what the research is about and what it involves. They can refuse, and they can withdraw at any time. For children, a parent's consent is also needed.
Privacy and confidentiality: personal information is kept private, and people are not named. Anonymity means that nobody could work out who took part.
Deception: people should not be misled about the purpose of the research or about who the researcher is. Covert observation always involves deception.
Prevention of harm: participants should not suffer physical harm, distress, embarrassment or damage to their reputation. The researcher should be safe too.
Legality: research must not break the law. A researcher who sees or learns of crimes faces a hard choice between confidentiality and the law.
Ethics can clash with validity. Telling people everything may change how they behave, while deceiving them gives truer data. Most researchers accept less perfect data in order to act ethically.

Worked example

A researcher plans to pose as a pupil's cousin and sit in lessons to watch how teachers treat girls and boys. Identify the ethical issues.

Deception: the teachers and pupils are misled about who the researcher is.
No informed consent: nobody has agreed to be studied.
Privacy: individuals could be recognised in the report unless names and the school are hidden.
An ethical alternative is overt observation with the consent of the school, the teachers and the parents.

Tips and tricks

Use the proper terms: informed consent, confidentiality, deception, harm, legality. Each named and applied earns credit.
For research on children or vulnerable people, mention consent from parents or carers as well as from the person.

5 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Ethical issues in research: 5 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What does confidentiality mean?
- the research is kept from the public for ever
- participants' personal information is kept private (the answer)
- only the researcher takes part
- the results are never written down
People must not be identifiable.
Which research design involves deception?
- an anonymous questionnaire
- an overt interview
- covert participant observation (the answer)
- reading official statistics
The researcher hides the fact that research is taking place.
What is meant by prevention of harm?
- avoiding all research on people
- paying the participants
- keeping the sample small
- making sure participants do not suffer because of the research (the answer)
Harm includes distress and embarrassment as well as injury.
What must a researcher do before interviewing a 12-year-old?
- obtain consent from the child and from a parent (the answer)
- nothing, as children cannot refuse
- pay the school
- record the child in secret
Children cannot give full consent alone.
A participant in an interview becomes upset and asks to stop. What should the researcher do?Stretch
- continue, as the data are valuable
- persuade them to finish
- stop, because participants have the right to withdraw and must not be harmed (the answer)
- report them to the school
Consent can be withdrawn at any time.

5 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Ethical issues in research

Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

What is meant by the term "informed consent"?[2]
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Participants agree to take part in research with full knowledge of what it is about and what it involves.
I got this one
Describe two ethical issues that affect research.[4]
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Any two, each described: informed consent, where participants knowingly agree to take part; confidentiality, where personal details are kept private; deception, where participants must not be misled; prevention of harm, where participants must not be hurt or distressed; legality, where the research must not break the law.
I got this one
Explain why covert observation raises ethical problems.[4]
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The people observed do not know they are being studied, so they have not given informed consent. They are deceived about who the researcher is. Their privacy is invaded, and the researcher may witness or be drawn into illegal acts.
I got this one

Answers: Ethical issues in research

1. Participants agree to take part in research with full knowledge of what it is about and what it involves.
2. Any two, each described: informed consent, where participants knowingly agree to take part; confidentiality, where personal details are kept private; deception, where participants must not be misled; prevention of harm, where participants must not be hurt or distressed; legality, where the research must not break the law.
3. The people observed do not know they are being studied, so they have not given informed consent. They are deceived about who the researcher is. Their privacy is invaded, and the researcher may witness or be drawn into illegal acts.