SOCI6014 Applying Social Research Critical Essay Brief: Retrospective Ethics Review of a Published Study | University of Kent

SOCI6014 Applying Social Research (University of Kent): Critical Essay on Research Design and Ethics

In this SOCI6014 assessment you act as a retrospective ethics reviewer. You take one classic or contemporary study from the module reading list, for example Laud Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade, identify its research questions and philosophical position, judge whether its methods fit them, and decide whether you would have given it a favourable ethical opinion.

The Task

This assessment requires you to critically evaluate the research design and ethical decisions made in one of the studies on the list provided (see the module reading list). Approach the task from the perspective of someone doing a retrospective ethics review on the study.

Questions Your Critical Essay Must Address

• What are the research questions that this study seeks to address? [This should be your introduction.]
• What are the philosophical underpinnings of the study?
• What methods does the study use?
• How well do the methods fit the research questions and the philosophical position of the study?
• What ethical issues does this study raise?
• How do the author(s) address the ethical issues? How well do they address or account for those ethical issues?
• How would you address the ethical issues raised by this study?
• Would you give this study favourable ethical opinion? Justify your answer. [This should be your conclusion.]

Format and Requirements

• Use a conventional critical essay structure. An ethics reviewer would normally answer each question on a form, but that approach makes it harder to develop your argument, so write a continuous essay guided by the questions.
• Use examples from your chosen study, through direct quotations or paraphrasing, acknowledged and referenced in Harvard style.
• Word limit: 2,000 words (+/- 10%).

Answer

Request Answer of this Assignment