ABSTRACT

This chapter explores what the teachers mean by 'research ethics' and why a consideration of ethics within their research is crucial to contemporary research practice. It provides an overview of the key ethics concepts and explains some of the central debates in relation to ethics within the social sciences. Ethics is a broad category of concepts, principles, and practices; it will become clear that what is and is not ethical is highly contested. The central ethical concept, to which all other concepts relate, is that of 'informed consent'. Consent simply means 'agreement'; the agreement of an individual to participate in research. However, 'agreement' alone is not sufficient for us to be ethical; participants must first be fully aware about the planned research. Researchers must ensure that participants give their consent freely, without coercion. Coercive consent is when participants feel real or perceived pressured to agree to take part in research, even when they do not want to.