Naturaleza de la relación entre ética, investigación y ciencias sociales.

Research can be conceived as a process aimed at the production and dissemination of knowledge, in the context of an ethical commitment that guarantees its credibility and application. The objective of this article is to reflect on the nature of the relationship between ethics, research and social sciences. This work is reflective, with a philosophical-hermeneutical method and a documentary design. Since knowledge is not neutral, the research from which it arises is not neutral either. The subjects who give rise to the activity and the investigative process are not neutral either. The thesis of value neutrality has remained in the past due to its self-interested ideological function. Totally objective knowledge, where the influence of the subject on the object is null, precarious or non-existent, is completely surpassed. Human behavior is what gives meaning to the construction of knowledge of reality. This action is what allows the ethical assessment of the purposes of the actions and their intentional behavior. The researcher needs to ask himself about the hierarchy of values that will guide his research practice. From this point of view, if social justice would be what guides this hierarchy, the most relevant issues would be: dignity, solidarity, equity, human rights, human needs and capabilities. Thinking about ethics as a reflection on morality generates a broader framework for understanding research ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]