Ethical Issues of Social Scientists

Ethical Issues of Social Scientists

There are two questions posed referring to ethics of anthropologist and other social scientists: What are the ethical issues that anthropologists and other social scientists should consider when conducting research with people? Why would a code of ethics be important for social scientists? Firstly, ethics comprises rules of conduct about what is right and wrong in terms of both motives and behavior. Ethical issues are issues, or arguments, that questions one’s moral values. The ethical issues that today’s anthropologists and other social scientists should consider when conducting research with people is on a very wide and profound spectrum. For example, one could find them self asking questions that could potentially uncover a participant’s secrets that could be vital for their research, but cannot disclose that information because they are not legally entitled to know that information, thus causing privacy and disclosure issues. Covert research is an example of another ethical issue. It is extremely questionable as to whether or not it is ethical or not for social scientists to conduct covert research, even though it is deemed as a magnificent way to achieve a better understanding of certain social occurrences. It is great to have a code of ethics or, set of rules that all social scientist must abide by while performing their duties, so that they, along with the people they work with, can receive the maximum benefit while reducing or eliminating any harm to the participants. In addition to that, not following a code of ethics could lead to imprisonment and even causing one to have their license revoked. Following a code of ethics is a very big deal for all anthropologists and other social scientists. Social scientists aim to be ethical in the way that they study people: they must make sure that they attain informed consent from individuals; assure that their individuals have both confidentiality and total privacy; and also, be aware that the research that they...

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