The Ethics of Compensation in Political Science Research.

Political scientists confront serious ethical dilemmas when deciding whether and how to compensate research participants, without clear disciplinary guidelines or shared norms. Our paper presents a systematic framework for developing and refining compensation plans and contributes to the political m...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Comparative Political Studies Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 1043 - 1083
Autores principales: Porisky, Alesha, MacLean, Lauren M.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Apr2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=191630696&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 191630696
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00104140
        CPS
      jtl: Comparative Political Studies
      issn: 00104140
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Apr2026
      vid: 59
      iid: 5
      pid: 344
      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
    artinfo:
      ui:
        191630696
        10.1177/00104140251349650
      ppf: 1043
      ppct: 40
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: The Ethics of Compensation in Political Science Research.
      aug:
        au:
          Porisky, Alesha
          MacLean, Lauren M.
        affil:
          Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
          Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
      su:
        Research ethics
        Compensation (Law)
        Political science
        Ethics
        Human research subjects
        Incentive (Psychology)
        Developed countries
        Research methodology
      sug:
        subj:
          Research ethics
          Compensation (Law)
          Political science
          Ethics
          Human research subjects
          Incentive (Psychology)
          Developed countries
          Research methodology
      keyword:
        compensation
        human subjects
        methodology
        research ethics
        compensation
        human subjects
        methodology
        research ethics
      ab: Political scientists confront serious ethical dilemmas when deciding whether and how to compensate research participants, without clear disciplinary guidelines or shared norms. Our paper presents a systematic framework for developing and refining compensation plans and contributes to the political methodology and research ethics literature. The analysis draws on published methodological and empirical research across subfields, and the authors' original data collection in a range of political regimes across urban and rural contexts in the Global North and Global South. We argue that researchers must confront seven types of compensation decisions, and we detail specific criteria that should guide their choices. We highlight the wide range of monetary and non-monetary compensation options available to researchers and offer strategies to navigate complex ethical dilemmas. Our findings demonstrate the value of contextual knowledge and relationships when creating and updating compensation plans and offer researchers a rigorous framework to guide difficult ethical compensation choices.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N