Ethical Research Principles and Related Concerns

(Relevant for Sociology Optional for Civil Services Examination)

Informed Consent

• The adherence to guidelines requiring informed consent from subjects prior to initiating research is common among social scientists. Informed consent entails to participants willingly agreeing to be part of a study, with a thorough understanding of what it involves. By recognizing the importance of informed consent, practices like misleading participants or conducting secret research are prevented.
• However, this may create challenges in laboratory or field experiments, as participants’ behavior could change if they are aware of the research’s objectives.

Confidentiality

• Maintaining confidentiality is a core aspect of many ethical principles. Certain research may be hindered because authorities like governments, police, or courts might demand the disclosure of research results. For instance, Fitzgerald and Hamilton referred to in Israel and Hay halted their investigation into Australian drug users, fearing a police warrant demanding confidential information.
• Studying grave crimes such as paedophilia, murder, organized crime, or terrorism may intensify these issues.
• Concealing participants’ identities might be very challenging in certain studies. Fiona Brookman notes, for example, that maintaining confidentiality of murderers’ identities interviewed for research might be problematic if their cases are widely publicized.

Promote Well-being and Avoid Harm

• The ultimate goal of research ethics is to prevent harm and contribute positively. Israel and Hay state that ‘Contemporary researchers are typically expected to minimize risks of harm or discomfort to participants (the principle of non-maleficence). In some situations, they may also be expected to enhance the participants’ well-being (the principle of beneficence).’ Although beneficence is welcomed, non-maleficence is considered vital by most researchers. This may lead to avoidance or extreme caution in conducting certain kinds of research, such as a study on domestic violence in Mexico, which inadvertently caused some subjects to face re-victimization from their partners.
• Feminists and critical social scientists often focus on benefiting through research, limiting their research subjects to areas where they can contest the mistreatment of women or other perceived marginalized groups.

Hammersley and Traianou

Martyn Hammersley, is a well-known British sociologist who has written extensively on methodological issues, particularly related to qualitative research methods.

Anna Traianou is often associated with Martyn Hammersley, and they have collaborated on research projects. Both scholars have worked on topics related to methodology in social science research, focusing on ethical considerations, qualitative methods, and the philosophy of social research.

Hammersley and Traianou

Individuals’ ethics may differ, significantly limiting the subjects they are willing to investigate. Moreover, university ethics committees can decide the permissibility of research, and over time, the control and scope of this regulation in terms of evaluation and procedures have been expanded and strengthened. Essentially, ethics committees are tasked with evaluating not only if a proposed research is ethical but also its value, and whether the chosen methodologies are likely to yield valid findings.

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Explore Sociology Optional Syllabus

Paper-1

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY

1. Sociology – The Discipline
   1. Modernity and social changes in Europe and emergence of sociology.
   2. Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.
   3. Sociology and common sense.
2. Sociology as Science:
   1. Science, scientific method and critique.
   2. Major theoretical strands of research methodology.
   3. Positivism and its critique.
   4. Fact value and objectivity.
   5. Non- positivist methodologies.
3. Research Methods and Analysis:
   1. Qualitative and quantitative methods.
   2. Techniques of data collection.
   3. Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability and validity.
4. Sociological Thinkers:
   1. Karl Marx- Historical materialism, mode of production, alienation, class struggle.
   2. Emile Durkheim- Division of labour, social fact, suicide, religion and society.
   3. Max Weber- Social action, ideal types, authority, bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.
   4. Talcott Parsons- Social system, pattern variables.
   5. Robert K. Merton- Latent and manifest functions, conformity and deviance, reference groups.
   6. Mead – Self and identity.
5. Stratification and Mobility:
   1. Concepts- equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty and deprivation.
   2. Theories of social stratification- Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.
   3. Dimensions – Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.
   4. Social mobility- open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility.
6. Works and Economic Life:
   1. Social organization of work in different types of society- slave society, feudal society, industrial /capitalist society
   2. Formal and informal organization of work.
   3. Labour and society.
7. Politics and Society:
   1. Sociological theories of power.
   2. Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.
   3. Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
   4. Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
8. Religion and Society:
   1. Sociological theories of religion.
   2. Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
   3. Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.
9. Systems of Kinship:
   1. Family, household, marriage.
   2. Types and forms of family.
   3. Lineage and descent.
   4. Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
   5. Contemporary trends.
10. Social Change in Modern Society:
    1. Sociological theories of social change.
    2. Development and dependency.
    3. Agents of social change.
    4. Education and social change.
    5. Science, technology and social change.

Paper-2

INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE

INTRODUCING INDIAN SOCIETY

1. Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
   1. Indology (GS. Ghurye).
   2. Structural functionalism (M N Srinivas).
   3. Marxist sociology (A R Desai).
2. Impact of colonial rule on Indian society :
   1. Social background of Indian nationalism.
   2. Modernization of Indian tradition.
   3. Protests and movements during the colonial period.
   4. Social reforms.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
  1. The idea of Indian village and village studies.
  2. Agrarian social structure – evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.
• Caste System:
  1. Perspectives on the study of caste systems: GS Ghurye, M N Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
  2. Features of caste system.
  3. Untouchability – forms and perspectives.
• Tribal communities in India
  1. Definitional problems.
  2. Geographical spread.
  3. Colonial policies and tribes.
  4. Issues of integration and autonomy.
• Social Classes in India:

1. 1. Agrarian class structure.

• • • Industrial class structure.
    • Middle classes in India.
• Systems of Kinship in India:
  1. Lineage and descent in India.
  2. Types of kinship systems.
  3. Family and marriage in India.
  4. Household dimensions of the family.
  5. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour
• Religion and Society:
  1. Religious communities in India.
  2. Problems of religious minorities.
  3. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour

SOCIAL CHANGES IN INDIA

1. Visions of Social Change in India:
   • Idea of development planning and mixed economy
   • Constitution, law and social change.
   • Education and social change.
2. Rural and Agrarian transformation in India:
   • Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives,poverty alleviation schemes
   • Green revolution and social change.
   • Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
   • Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.

3. Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:

• • Evolution of modern industry in India.
  • Growth of urban settlements in India.
  • Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
  • Informal sector, child labour
  • Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

4. Politics and Society:

• • Nation, democracy and citizenship.
  • Political parties, pressure groups , social and political elite
  • Regionalism and decentralization of power.
  • Secularization

5. Social Movements in Modern India:

• • Peasants and farmers movements.
  • Women’s movement.
  • Backward classes & Dalit movement.
  • Environmental movements.
  • Ethnicity and Identity movements.

6. Population Dynamics:

• • Population size, growth, composition and distribution
  • Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
  • Population policy and family planning.
  • Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.

7. Challenges of Social Transformation:

• • Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems and sustainability
  • Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
  • Violence against women.
  • Caste conflicts.
  • Ethnic conflicts, communalism, religious revivalism.
  • Illiteracy and disparities in education.

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