Ethical Concerns in Research Studies
Research conducted on humans presents various unique ethical considerations. Firstly, social workers or researchers should consider how they conduct themselves and the rights of individual research subjects in micro-level practice. Secondly, at the meso-level practice, a researcher should consider their profession’s expectations, organizations, if any, funding the research study, and the effects of their research on the community. Lastly, researchers should consider their responsibility to society and society’s expectations regarding their social scientific study or research (Mauldin, n.d.). I have witnessed ethical issues concerning micro-level research about suicide ideation. Our assignment writing services will allow you to attend to more important tasks as our experts handle your task.
Essentially, a social worker intending to examine the role of childhood experiences in suicidal ideation among young adults (me and some neighbors) came to our neighborhood to collect data. He conducted one-on-one interactions with research subjects to study his hypothesis. Ideally, a researcher should maintain confidentiality and promise not to reveal the identities of their research subjects, even when they know the link between participants and the data. Following the social worker’s type of research in our neighborhood, he found out one participant was in imminent danger to herself. In that case, the researcher had to violate confidentiality as a legal obligation.
Of course, this particular participant did not enjoy the experience because she had to be taken to a counselor and monitored closely, which happened so fast and, thus, was overwhelming. On the other hand, I took the situation as a learning experience. Accordingly, researchers should maintain the confidentiality of their subjects even when the participants and the data collected are linkable. However, if the participant(s) is imminent to themselves or others, the researcher is allowed to violate confidentiality as a legal obligation. Lastly, the researcher should always minimize any harm that could occur during the research process (Yip et al., 2016). In this case, the researcher revealed the subject’s identity to prevent her from harming herself.
References
Mauldin, R. (n.d.). Foundations of Social Work Research.
Yip, C., Reena Han, N., & Leong Sng, B. (2016). Legal and ethical issues in research, 60(9), 684-685. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5049.190627
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Question 
Have you or someone you know participated in a research study? What ethical concerns, if any, were present during the study?
Ethical Concerns in Research Studies
Did you or the person you know enjoy the experience?