Seeking a Research-Ethics Covenant in the Social Sciences

Book excerpt: In Seeking a Research-Ethics Covenant in the Social Sciences, Will C. van den Hoonaard chronicles the negative influence that medical research-ethics frameworks have had on social science research-ethics policies. He argues that the root causes of the current ethics disorder in the social sciences are the aggressive audit culture in universities and the privilege accorded to medical research ethics. Van den Hoonaard charts the unique history of research ethics in sociology and anthropology and provides a detailed plan for how to unshackle research ethics in the social sciences from medical frameworks. Central to this plan is an insistence that covenantal ethics be embedded in the professional training of researchers in the social sciences. Based on decades of study, advocacy, and engagement with research-ethics policy at all levels, with a chapter by Marco Marzano (University of Bergamo), the book will be of interest to scholars, policy makers, and administrators who seek to support the full potential of social science research.