Softly, softly on ethics tightrope

Advice is provide for academics on how to deal with the ethical issues involved when conducting research into sensitive issues. Tips include making sure that you undertake sufficient preparation, starting thinking about the ethical issues early on and keep thinking about them, making sure that you know about freedom of information and data protection, making sure that you have support systems in place for yourself and your research participants, and trying to imagine how your result could be misused.