Sociale wetenschappen en ethiek

Samenvatting

Ethics may be defined as "the totality of rules which determine what is morally good and bad" it is useful to distinguish autonomous and heteronomous values, the first being those without which it would not be possible to do research, and the second not necessarily having this characteristic. Truth, that value which is considered of great importance, is, paradoxically, also the value which is least attainable. Four aspects can be discerned in the quest for truth: organized skepticism, independence of mind, universalism, and communalism. Autonomous values such as truth are not absolute values - it is the goal that is most important. Semiautonomous values regulate the relationship between the researcher and the person being researched, and involve questions regarding the ethics of hiding tape recorders, not divulging the true purpose of the experiment, etc. While honesty is of great importance in relationships to interviewees, the desirability of giving all the relevant information is not always a foregone conclusion, and remains an issue which must be dealt with on an individual basis. Heteronomous values are theoretically infinite in number. These include issues relating to the ethics of doing particular types of research and whether the role of the social scientist should be interventionist or observatory. While it is inevitable that political viewpoints will be evident in selecting topics to study, politics and biases should not influence the methods or the results. P. Tiersma.