2.6a Privacy and Informed Consent

Privacy and Anonymity

Sociologists research people. Researchers keep the privacy and anonymity of research participants and the confidentiality of the data their participants share with them. For example, the researchers assigned pseudonyms to the participants in Calarco et al.’s (2021) study. Their report provided only limited details about each participant to keep their privacy. They shared the type of location (prenatal clinics) and the state and county where they recruited participants. They described only their research participants’ race, education, occupation, and the approximate ages of their children, using generic terms like toddler and elementary-aged.

Sociologists protect privacy so that research participants feel they can be honest and open about illegal activity, deviant behavior, information they would like to keep private, or details that could result in consequences. Some sociologists have gone to great lengths to protect the identity of people who are known or alleged to have committed crime. For example, Khan (2019) took the unusual step of storing his field notes outside of the United States to protect the anonymity of his research participants. The courts subpoenaed Khan’s field notes for a case that occurred after his research had concluded. The attorneys believed his notes and knowledge of the setting would enable them to prove a pattern of negligence in the case. Only after Khan secured the counsel of attorneys was the subpoena dropped.

Informed Consent

Sociologists must also obtain informed consent from their research participants. Informed consent is the process in which the research participant agrees to take part in the research and grants permission to the researcher to use their data for research purposes. For a research participant to provide informed consent, the researcher must first explain that participation is voluntary, describe what the research is about and how they will store their data to protect their privacy, and outline the benefits of involvement such as payment, if any, and the risk of harm if any. Some groups are considered protected populations, such as people in prison or a hospital, children under 18, and pregnant people. Researchers need to have theory-based reasons for including them. They may need to take added steps to obtain their informed consent.