Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Family Research

Abstract

This chapter examines and analyzes the major ethical dilemmas in qualita­ tive family research. W hile the ethical issues of conducting human subject research have previously been discussed and debated in the fields of medi­ cine, social work, psychology, anthropology, and sociology (e.g., Diener and Crandall, 1978; Reynolds, 1979; Wolfensburger, 1967), and while there has been extensive discussion of the ethics of qualitative research (e.g., Barnes, 1963; Becker, 1964b; Cassell, 1978; Douglas, 1979; Jorgensen, 1971; Klockars, 1977; Rynkiewich and Spradley, 1976), there has been virtually no discussion of the ethical problems of conducting qualitative studies of families.