Vander Ven On Ethical Summary

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Ethics, as any researcher involved in human studies knows, is essential when it comes to proper research and methods. A researcher must follow specific ethical guidelines in order to meet proper criteria and produce valuable, educated findings. Ethics can be explained as one’s morals, values, and guidelines towards a specific behavior, which also includes how researchers conduct studies. In other, much simpler terms, ethics helps individuals to understand the concepts of what is morally right versus wrong. Such concepts in research often influence how researchers treat subjects or participants in studies, but it is a common misconception that ethics only involves how individuals treat others. Ethics also includes how one conducts research, …show more content…

Vander Ven conducted his research among subjects in a Latino community located around Washington, D.C. He was interested in observing the Latino men who gathered on the corner of a local grocery market, their intentions, and their interactions. His research, which did not begin in fear, quickly turned into a study on the fear of crime and behaviors in the Latino community. Vander Ven perceived the interactions between Latino men and outsiders (typically white), and eventually measured how fear, stereotypes, behavioral strategies, and labeling played a self-fulfilling agent when it came to ones’ …show more content…

He admits to speaking very little to no Spanish, but he is conducted research in a Spanish speaking Latino community. This brings up the issue of participant consent. Due to the fact that he spoke very little Spanish and they spoke very little English, one could assume that the Latino men may not have understood the explanation, purpose, or method of the study (University, 2015). Ultimately, the language barrier may have not sufficiently allowed the participants to consent to the study or even understand what is going on. Also, because he is studying a very culturally different group of individuals he must deal with the cultural issues. That is to say that something he perceives as abnormal or relevant may ultimately be something that they believe is very normal or