Ethics in poverty research

Abstract

Abstract: Attention to ethics is critical to all types of social science research but it is especially relevant to poverty research. This is both because the collection of data for research on poverty can place burdens on people living in poverty and because poverty measurement entails making a variety of normative choices and, therefore, research outcomes depend critically on researchers’ values and reasoning. This chapter seeks to review ethical discussions within the poverty literature, engage with the broader literature on research ethics, and motivate greater attention to research ethics within poverty research. It reflects on the social value of poverty research and the importance of inclusivity and diversity, and examines the ethical issues that arise at each stage of the research process, from data collection and storage to empirical analysis and dissemination.