Title:	ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY DIRECTIVES AIMED AT BIG SOCIAL DATA RESEARCH
Author(s):	Charmaine du Plessis
ISBN:	978-989-8704-30-6
Editors:	Piet Kommers and Mário Macedo
Year:	2021
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Big Social Data, Inductive Analysis, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Ethical Maturity, Research Ethics, Ethical Responsibility
Type:	Full
First Page:	87
Last Page:	94
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	Despite the ongoing debate about ethics about big data and big social data, there are still no universal directives how to ethically deal with largescale datasets. Even big social data that is anonymous and seemingly harmless may have ethical implications and impacts that have not been previously anticipated. Hence, this paper explores the idea that, in the absence of universally agreed-upon ethical principles for big social data studies, researchers must adopt an ethical maturity focal point for such research projects. It is argued that researchers, who deal with big social data, must be ethically responsible and apply autonomous moral reasoning during all phases of the research process. To support the arguments, the study was conducted in two phases. The concept of ethical maturity was first extended to big social data research, after which some ethical directives are proposed, based on an inductive analysis of documents on the topic of ethics of big data and social data. The findings indicate that being ethically responsible could instill a greater appreciation of the current and new big social data context in researchers to justify ethical decision-making while becoming more aware of the manipulated reality of big social datasets.
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