Ethical dilemmas related to qualitative research in the humanities and social sciences

Abstract

The regulators of ethical standards in human research used the biomedical research model as a reference. The "exclusivity" assimilated by the model, provoked its meaning: that with the power to exclude. Thus, the system is faced with legitimate problems brought by researchers from the Human and Social Sciences, who seek new knowledge through the use of investigative scenarios different from the biomedical ones. The Brazilian regulatory system, although sensitized to the peculiarities of research methods in the Humanities, still remains distant from harmonizing the wishes, either by the weakness of the norms or by the reluctance to change. The worst-case scenario, which is not expected, but is feared, is to see this regime consolidate with less exercise of ethical wisdom engaged by the researcher in human research. This result would tend to reinforce even more the imposition of new norms, creating a vicious circle, fed by the action of one over the other.

Keywords: Research ethics; Ethics committee; Qualitative research.