The ethics of scientific social research. Between codification, institutionalization, and research practice
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Abstract
The last decade has seen the progressive codification and institutionalization of research ethics in the social sciences. More and more codes of ethics are being established to standardize rules for the ethical conduct of research, together with the creation of ethics committees to control research projects. Behind the codification and institutionalization of social science research ethics is, among other things, the belief that codes and ethics committees will make a significant contribution to the ethical conduct of researchers and protect research subjects, especially participants, from harm. In this article I argue that this is not enough, as both researchers and ethics committees should be guided by moral imagination in their ethical decisions.
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