Witold Jedynak,

Institute of Sociology,

Rzeszów University,

Rzeszów, Poland,

Ethical problems

of the sociologists profession. Polish perspective

E-mail: witoldjednak@yahoo.pl

ABSTRACT. The sociologists professional ethics defines the rules of the sociologists professional activities. Observing moral standards is an expression of care not only for the sociologists common good, but also for the society common good as the society is examined by the sociologists and the society uses and benefits from the research results. Society expects that sociologists will be highly qualified, will perfect their skills and improve their expertise as well as keep high ethical standards. The basic duty of every sociologist is not to harm the participants, but to protect their rights, interests, sensitivity and privacy. Coming across different people and social groups, a sociologist should rely on ethical rules as they guarantee the observance of civil and human rights. The researchers cannot use their authority to support particular people, political parties or groups, because such researchers will be seen as uncritical apologists of particular groups of power or interest. Sociologists who conduct research are under an obligation to carry it out in a way that does not raise either reservations or suspicions of impartiality. Only solid research conducted by reliable sociologists deserve to be acknowledged, and if such sociologists opinions are unbiased, they will be accepted and positively appraised. The article is an analysis of the subcject with using available literature.

Received: May, 2014

1st Revision: September, 2014

Accepted: October, 2014

DOI:10.14254/2071-789X.2014/7-4/7

JEL Classification:Z1

Keywords: sociology, ethical problems, research, polish perspective, profession.