The Ethics of Understanding: Selecting a Research Methodology in Social Sciences

Farhan, Naureen (2025) The Ethics of Understanding: Selecting a Research Methodology in Social Sciences. In: Meaning and Interpretation in Research: Nuance, Objectivity and the Ethics of Reason. IGI Global Scientific Publishing eEditorial Discovery. ISBN 9798337338101

Abstract

This chapter examines ethical issues across research methods and frames interpretation itself as an inherently ethical act. Traditional safeguards like informed consent and confidentiality are important yet are insufficient for addressing the moral complexities of meaning-making in research. Drawing on hermeneutic traditions, the chapter introduces ‘ethical hermeneutics,' viewing interpretation as shaped by subjectivity, power, and responsibility. It offers a critique of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and demonstrates how each approach can embed ethical safeguards into the construction of knowledge, representation of participants, and truth claims. Since interpretation is never neutral, being mediated by the researcher's assumptions, lived experience, and cultural context, the chapter recommends practices such as reflexive journaling, dialogical validation, ethical transparency, and contextual grounding. These strategies promote accountability, mitigate bias, and more accurately represent participant voices.

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