ABSTRACT
Publication of field research findings often poses ethical problem. The chapter begins by suggesting that several conditions, which vary from situation to situation, will affect the problem of reporting. It argues that a good study of a community or organization must reflect the irreconcilable conflict between the interests of science and the interests of those studied, and thereby provoke a hostile reaction. The chapter considers the possibility that the relationship between the social scientist and those author studies contains elements of irreducible conflict. It discusses the reasons why some reports of social science research do not contain conflict-provoking findings. The chapter shows that a sociological understanding of what we do when we publish potentially harmful materials may help us make the ethical decision that we must, inevitably, make alone. It suggests some possible ways of dealing with the problem.
