Table of Contents
Definition of Code of Ethics
(noun) In academic scholarship, a set of principles, responsibilities, and standards followed to assure ethical research and professional conduct.
Examples of Code of Ethics
- American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics
- The Australian Sociological Association’s Ethical Guidelines
- International Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics
Code of Ethics Pronunciation
Syllabification: code of eth·ics
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kOHd uhv Eth-iks/
- British English – /kOHd UHv E-thiks/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /koʊd əv ˈɛθɪks/
- British English – /kəʊd əv ˈɛθɪks/
Usage Notes
- Plural: codes of ethics
- Ethical concerns in research focus on anonymity, coercion, confidentiality, discomfort, informed consent, respect, and stress.
- Proper ethical guidelines must be followed to properly collect, analyze, report, and disseminate any information gained through research.
- Codes of ethics are dynamic, adapting to new technologies and public opinions. Codes of ethics are in place to avoid ethical abuses such as the infamous Milgram Experiment by Stanley Milgram (1933–1984), Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) by Philip George Zimbardo (1933) and Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places by Laud Humphreys (1930–1988).
- Also called:
- ethical code
- ethical guidelines
- professional code of ethics
Related Video
Additional Information
- Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “code” and “ethics” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Tierney, Patrick. 2000. Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon. New York: Norton.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Code of Ethics
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “code of ethics.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/code-of-ethics/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
code of ethics. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/code-of-ethics/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “code of ethics.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/code-of-ethics/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“code of ethics.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/code-of-ethics/>.