In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research
There is a growing body of literature that has sought to undermine systems of ethical regulation, and governance more generally, within the social sciences. In this paper, we argue that any general claim for a system of research ethics governance in social research depends on clarifying the nature o...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ
2017
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| _version_ | 1797066175262228480 |
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| author | Sheehan, M Dunn, M Sahan, K |
| author_facet | Sheehan, M Dunn, M Sahan, K |
| author_sort | Sheehan, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | There is a growing body of literature that has sought to undermine systems of ethical regulation, and governance more generally, within the social sciences. In this paper, we argue that any general claim for a system of research ethics governance in social research depends on clarifying the nature of the stake that society has in research. We show that certain accounts of this stake-protecting researchers' freedoms; ensuring accountability for resources; safeguarding welfare; and supporting democracy-raise relevant ethical considerations that are reasonably contested. However, these accounts cannot underpin a general claim in favour of, or against, a system of research ethics governance. Instead, we defend governance in social research on the grounds that research, as an institutionalised form of enquiry, is a constitutive element of human flourishing, and that society ought to be concerned with the flourishing of its members. We conclude by considering the governance arrangements that follow from, and are justified by, our arguments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:38:39Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:47217e88-0a23-43cd-a111-108501adaaa0 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:38:39Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | BMJ |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:47217e88-0a23-43cd-a111-108501adaaa02022-03-26T15:18:12ZIn defence of governance: Ethics review and social researchJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:47217e88-0a23-43cd-a111-108501adaaa0EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordBMJ2017Sheehan, MDunn, MSahan, KThere is a growing body of literature that has sought to undermine systems of ethical regulation, and governance more generally, within the social sciences. In this paper, we argue that any general claim for a system of research ethics governance in social research depends on clarifying the nature of the stake that society has in research. We show that certain accounts of this stake-protecting researchers' freedoms; ensuring accountability for resources; safeguarding welfare; and supporting democracy-raise relevant ethical considerations that are reasonably contested. However, these accounts cannot underpin a general claim in favour of, or against, a system of research ethics governance. Instead, we defend governance in social research on the grounds that research, as an institutionalised form of enquiry, is a constitutive element of human flourishing, and that society ought to be concerned with the flourishing of its members. We conclude by considering the governance arrangements that follow from, and are justified by, our arguments. |
| spellingShingle | Sheehan, M Dunn, M Sahan, K In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research |
| title | In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research |
| title_full | In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research |
| title_fullStr | In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research |
| title_full_unstemmed | In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research |
| title_short | In defence of governance: Ethics review and social research |
| title_sort | in defence of governance ethics review and social research |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sheehanm indefenceofgovernanceethicsreviewandsocialresearch AT dunnm indefenceofgovernanceethicsreviewandsocialresearch AT sahank indefenceofgovernanceethicsreviewandsocialresearch |