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Conflicting notions of research ethics: The mutually challenging traditions of social scientists and medical researchers

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  • Hoeyer, Klaus
  • Dahlager, Lisa
  • Lynöe, Niels

Abstract

Tensions over ethics in research occasionally arise when anthropologists and other social scientists study health services in medical institutions. In order to resolve this type of conflict, and to facilitate mutual learning rather than mutual recrimination, we describe two general categories of research ethics framing: those of anthropology and those of medicine. The latter, we propose, has tended to focus on protection of the individual through preservation of autonomy--principally expressed through the requirement of informed consent--whereas the former has attended more to political implications. After providing few examples of concrete conflicts, we outline four issues that characterise the occasional clashes between social scientists and medical staff, and which deserve further consideration: (1) a discrepancy in the way anthropologists perceive patients and medical staff; (2) ambiguity concerning the role of medical staff in anthropological research; (3) impediments to informed consent in qualitative research projects; and (4) property rights in data. Our contention is that enhanced dialogue could serve to invigorate the ethical debate in both traditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoeyer, Klaus & Dahlager, Lisa & Lynöe, Niels, 2005. "Conflicting notions of research ethics: The mutually challenging traditions of social scientists and medical researchers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1741-1749, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:8:p:1741-1749
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Van Der Geest, Sjaak, 1989. "Censorship and medical sociology in the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 1339-1341, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hélder Raposo & Sara Melo & Catarina Egreja, 2022. "Data Protection in Sociological Health Research: A Critical Narrative about the Challenges of a New Regulatory Landscape," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(4), pages 1060-1076, December.
    2. Guta, Adrian & Nixon, Stephanie A. & Wilson, Michael G., 2013. "Resisting the seduction of “ethics creep”: Using Foucault to surface complexity and contradiction in research ethics review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 301-310.
    3. Molyneux, Sassy & Geissler, P. Wenzel, 2008. "Ethics and the ethnography of medical research in Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 685-695, September.
    4. Catherine Molyneux & Jane Goudge & Steve Russell & Jane Chuma & Tebogo Gumede & Lucy Gilson, 2009. "Conducting health-related social science research in low income settings: ethical dilemmas faced in Kenya and South Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 309-326.
    5. Harper, Ian, 2007. "Translating ethics: Researching public health and medical practices in Nepal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 2235-2247, December.
    6. Miller, Tina & Boulton, Mary, 2007. "Changing constructions of informed consent: Qualitative research and complex social worlds," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 2199-2211, December.
    7. Fisher, Jill A., 2008. "Practicing research ethics: Private-sector physicians & pharmaceutical clinical trials," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2495-2505, June.
    8. Watson, Sharon, 2022. "‘Don't cross the line, you're a researcher and not an educator’: Incorporating indigenous researchers' moral perspectives to improve ethical protocols in health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    9. Oeye, Christine & Bjelland, Anne Karen & Skorpen, Aina, 2007. "Doing participant observation in a psychiatric hospital-- Research ethics resumed," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 2296-2306, December.

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