10. Ethics in Research with Special Reference to Social Sciences

There has been a great spread of research at all types and at all levels. At the same time, the unethical conduct also has increased among the researchers. For example, we so often hear about the plagiarism. The ethical issues have become more important these days. The objective of this paper is to sensitise and to increase the ethical awareness of those engaged in research activities. In other words, this paper seeks to discuss the matters relating to the ethical sensibilities of the appropriate groups. Some of the questions discussed in this paper are as follows. What is research? What is ethics? Is ethics needed, i.e. what is the importance of ethics in research? Can some areas of research activity be ethics-free? What are the special ethical issues particularly in social sciences? Ethical codes, principles, rules regarding research also are discussed.