Design Research Ethics

In our Environmental Behavior Research class we have been considering what a Code of Ethics for Research in Sustainable Interior Environments might include. Doing a little research about this, I found the following page about design research, ethics, and informed consent at Design for Social Innovation

It's interesting to see this blog—that appears to have one foot in Chile and one in the US—looking at similar concerns. I especially appreciate the point where the author quotes from Scott-Jones' and Watt's
Ethnography in Social Science Practice: 

‘To an extent, most field research requires a more flexible or situational approach to ethics, and it is naive of any researcher to assume that an overt role, combined with a signed informed consent forms, means that research is fully ethical‘ [Watt & Jones 2010:123]

To me this means that the researcher must remain engaged, sensitive to the participants, and asking questions of the process throughout the process. There must be a willingness to "disobey" the approach if people are being harmed.

This is the lesson from Milgram and Tuskegee.

I would add that our ethical obligation to do no harm underlies all of the choices we make as designers, so I would think the research would be part of a continuum of activities in an ethical, integrated design process that would include every stage and every decision.