The Ethics of Research with Human Participants and the Value of Reflexive Openness

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses the implications of giving primacy to the ethical treatment of human participants for empirical research in the social sciences. It advances a broad and distinct approach of “reflexive openness” that incorporates sustained reflection on the ethics of research practices. Drawing on the literature, the Qualitative Transparency Deliberation process, and the authors’ decades of experience in varied subfields, empirical contexts, and methodologies, the chapter systematically evaluates the risks, dilemmas, and consequences of a narrower notion of research transparency as compared to the reflexive openness approach. It argues that a shift to this approach yields great potential benefits and should be the foundation of research methods and practices. In conclusion, the chapter urges political scientists to strengthen such ethical commitments across disciplinary institutions including departments, professional associations, and journals. The lives and livelihoods of the subjects are at stake, as are the prospects for an engaged methodological pluralism that fosters multiple and diverse perspectives.