Despite widespread indifference or resistence to the idea, communication scientists need to discuss the ethical implications of their research. Fortunate in being able to conduct research, scientists are responsible to and for the larger population in whose names they do their work. They need to realize that such traditional research areas and techniques as the mass sample survey, persuasion studies, and attitude/behavior change campaigns, in treating subjects as objects rather than partners in their work, can create a fundamental power imbalance between scientists and nonscientists. To renew public trust in research, scientists must create a more ethical research paradigm reflecting community needs and interests and substituting what Margaret Mead called "informed consent" for voluntary participation among subjects. Discussion of ethical dilemmas in social research must begin in graduate school with a compulsory course addressing, among other issues, the nature of scientists' rights and responsibilities, the role of the general public in research design, and present ethical problems and their possible solutions. (MM)