The Ethical Evaluation of Social Work Academic Publications with Children and Youth: Meta Analysis

Aim: This research aimed to examine the adherence to ethical principles and standards in academic social work publications focusing on children and youth. Method: To achieve the research objective, the meta-analysis method was employed. Out of 737 studies, including articles and theses, 192 studies met the inclusion criteria. Using the predetermined coding method, the studies were analyzed based on their form and content characteristics, their adherence to ethical principles and standards was evaluated. Effect sizes were then calculated accordingly. For this calculation, the group difference meta-analysis method was applied, which compares naturally occurring groups, such as men and women, to determine standardized effect sizes. Additionally, Hedges’s g value was utilized for effect size estimation, and the random effects model was chosen to account for variability across studies. Results: The study found that Hedges’s g value indicated a small effect size across perceptions. This finding suggests that the difference in ethical principles and standards between male and female participants is minimal, indicating no significant gender-based difference in adherence to ethical principles. Conclusion: The findings of this research indicate that, in the 192 studies analyzed, researchers did not specifically focus on ethical principles and standards tailored to children and young people. Instead, their studies primarily adhered to general scientific research ethics.