Research Basics
Ethics
The Principle of No Harm
The very first rule of ethical practice in social science research is “No Harm to Participants.” All other rules are derived from this key principle. In our pursuit of understanding the social world, we must take all the necessary steps to respect the individual entities that are part of the study. We must respect them as individuals and aim to minimize, if not eliminate, any potential harm that participation in a study may cause.
What type of harm are we referring to? Any harm – physical, psychological, emotional, legal, social, and financial.
In practice, however, social scientists are aware that some research projects may have a negative effect on the participant.
[
, "Dangers in the Field" Professor Alice Cepeda]
Let’s go back to the interviews of the witnesses from the September 11th events. In this case, we can anticipate that the recalling of such a traumatic event will be stressful and emotional on the participants. Accordingly, one way to address this issue, is to have a list of resources, such as psychologists, therapist, support groups that the respondent can seek for professional assistance.
[, "Advice for High Risk Work" Professor Alice Cepeda]
As our next section explains, informing the clients ahead of time about the nature of the research questions is another strategy to minimize any potential harm to the participant. In the qualitative methods sections, we also address how to make questions more neutral and less sensitive and how our demeanor can affect the respondent.
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