Collaborating with Rebecca Tapscott, Development Studies PhD student Daniel Rincon-Machon has published a new article on ethics in social science research. The article has been published by the Journal of Peace Research.Â
See below for Daniel's short description of his work.
Social scientists conducting research with people (so-called, "human subjects") will be familiar with the ethical review process. While there has been a growing demand to raise ethical standards in social research, many criticize ethical review committees as ill-suited for the task due to their biomedical foundations. The fact is, we know surprisingly little about these institutions beyond a few Global North countries, and this paper aims to address that. We created a global dataset showing that ethical review requirements are nearly universal (87% of countries) but rarely concerned with the social sciences—only 21% of countries worldwide require review in the social sciences, and from those, a mere 31% (13 countries) offer specific guidelines on how to do so. This resource empowers social scientists to critique the current system and explore alternatives, while also providing a tool for navigating ethical regulations abroad.