Social Problems Practice Test

In social problems research, the core obligation is to treat people who participate with respect and care. That means protecting participants from harm, obtaining informed consent so people understand what they’re getting into, and keeping their information confidential. It also means actively minimizing any potential risk to participants and having researchers’ work reviewed by an ethics board to ensure the study is designed and conducted responsibly. Upholding integrity—honest reporting of methods and results and avoiding manipulation or misconduct—is another essential piece of ethical practice.

This combination—protecting participants, obtaining informed consent, maintaining confidentiality, minimizing harm, IRB oversight, and ensuring integrity—best captures the full set of ethical responsibilities in social problems research. The other options miss important elements: one adds a requirement to publish all data, which can conflict with confidentiality; another wrongly treats ethics as optional; another leaves out minimization of harm, oversight, and integrity.