RESEARCH ETHICS

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RESEARCH ETHICS

• Dr Natasha Whiteman
• Department of Media and Communication
• University of Leicester
• new9_at_le.ac.uk

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Today

• Why do we care about research ethics?
• Key ethical principles in research
• Implications of ethics for your own work.

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What do we mean by research ethics?

• Ethics ethical principles as applied to the
  activity of research
• Risk i.e. risks of research activity to
  safeguard the safety of yourself and others
• Legal frameworks and codes of practice
• Relevant to ALL researchers across the
  sciences, social sciences and humanities.

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Why behave ethically?

• As researchers we have a responsibility to behave
  ethically (to be fair to not cause harm to
  others.. etc)
• To protect the rights of individuals, communities
  and environments involved in research
• To assure favourable climate of public trust for
  continued research
• To meet public demands for accountability and
  legal codes of responsible behaviour

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Ethics in a changing academic context

• Contemporary codes of research ethics emerge from
  ethical frameworks developed to protect human
  subjects in biomedical research.
• Increasing bureaucratisation and
  institutionalisation of research ethics in the
  social sciences
• Move away from the expert authority of individual
  researcher
• Introduction of ethics committees in UK higher
  education institutions, similar to Institutional
  Review Boards in the US
• Increasing surveillance of research activity

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perverse consequences of ethical regulation
(Dingwall, 2008, 5)
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What this means for you

• Faculties and Departments are required to
  develop robust procedures for ensuring the
  ethical integrity of all student research (PGCE,
  MA, research degrees),all student research
  involving human participants being reviewed prior
  to the beginning of data collection and the
  results of student ethics reviews being reported
  to the Faculty Research Ethics Committee.
  http//www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/About_Policie
  s/Researchethics.pdf

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Ethics and the Process of Research
Data analysis
Sampling
Research question
Dissemination
Data collection
Literature reviewing
Data Management
Writing
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To whom are we ethically responsible as
researchers?

• Our participants
• Our sponsors
• The University
• The general public
• Ourselves

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Key terminology relating to research ethics

• Human Subject
• Informed consent
• Right to Withdraw
• Confidentiality and Anonymity
• Disclosure

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Human participants

• Faculties and Departments are required to
  develop robust procedures for ensuring the
  ethical integrity of all student research (PGCE,
  MA, research degrees), all student research
  involving human participants being reviewed prior
  to the beginning of data collection and the
  results of student ethics reviews being reported
  to the Faculty Research Ethics Committee.
  http//www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/About_Policie
  s/Researchethics.pdf

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• The voluntary consent of the human subject is
  absolutely essential. This means that the person
  involved should have legal capacity to give
  consent should be so situated as to be able to
  exercise free power of choice, without the
  intervention of any element of force, fraud,
  deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior
  form of constraint or coercion and should have
  sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the
  elements of the subject matter involved, as to
  enable him to make an understanding and
  enlightened decision. This latter element
  requires that, before the acceptance of an
  affirmative decision by the experimental subject,
  there should be made known to him the nature,
  duration, and purpose of the experiment the
  method and means by which it is to be conducted
  all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be
  expected and the effects upon his health or
  person, which may possibly come from his
  participation in the experiment.
• The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the
  quality of the consent rests upon each individual
  who initiates, directs or engages in the
  experiment. It is a personal duty and
  responsibility which may not be delegated to
  another with impunity. (1947 Nuremberg Code.)

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What is a human subject?What is the
difference between a subject and an object?
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Human Subjects

• a living individual about whom an investigator
  conducting research obtains
• data through intervention or interaction with the
  individual, or
• Identifiable private information (US Department
  of Health and Human services)
• Human participants (or subjects) are defined
  as including living human beings, human beings
  who have recently died (cadavers, human remains
  and body parts), embryos and foetuses, human
  tissue and bodily fluids, and human data and
  records (such as, but not restricted to medical,
  genetic, financial, personnel, criminal or
  administrative records and test results including
  scholastic achievements). (ESRC, 2005, 7)

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Informed Consent

• Informed consent refers to the idea that
  research participants should always be provided
  with enough information to make an informed
  decision about whether or not they want to take
  part in your study.
• Consent to take part in a research project should
  be voluntary, informed and obtained without duress

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Voluntary Informed Consent

• The Right to Withdraw
• Participants have the right to withdraw from the
  project including after the data has been
  collected
• They should be informed of this right
• Any attempt to convince a participant not to
  withdraw should be carefully considered to ensure
  that no coercion or duress is being used
• The possibility of a withdrawal after data
  collection should be considered in the planning
  stage to ensure that such an occurrence would not
  have a serious detrimental effect on the project

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Voluntary Informed Consent

• Questions to consider
• Is the participant competent to make their own
  decision regarding participation?
• Are the participants free to choose to
  participate or not to participate?
• Have the participants sufficient information to
  make this decision?
• Do the participants fully understand this
  information?

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Working with Children

• Legal aspects
• Children defined as anyone under 18 years of age
• One key ethical question
• From Whom do we obtain consent?
• Child consent
• Parental consent
• Gatekeeper consent

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Consent from Children

• In line with article 12 of the United Nations
  Convention on the Rights of the Child, which
  requires that children who are capable of forming
  their own views should be granted the right to
  express them freely in all matters affecting
  them, commensurate with their age and maturity,
  it is expected that efforts should be made to
  obtain informed consent from children involved in
  any research
• Research Concerning Children and Young People,
  http//www2.le.ac.uk/institution/committees/resear
  ch-ethics/research-concerning-children-and-young-p
  eople-guidelines

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When Might Informed Consent Not Be Appropriate?

• Observation in public places
• Research necessitating deception
• Covert research
• Using data in the public domain

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Confidentiality and Anonymity

• Confidentiality exists when only the researchers
  are aware of the participants identities and
  have promised not to reveal those identities to
  anyone else
• Anonymity means that there is no way individual
  participants can be identified from any of the
  data or information collected from them in the
  research

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Vidich and Bensmans Springdale , New York
(1958)

• Sociological study of social/political life in a
  small town Springdale (pseudonym)
• Researchers ensured participants that their
  anonymity/privacy would be maintained.
• Publication of Small Town in Mass Society (1958)
  resulted in anger/hostility because
• it was easy for those living in Springdale to
  identify anonymised participants
• inhabitants were insulted by the researchers
  characterisations of the town and its people
• RESULT Refusal to co-operate with any social
  scientists in the future, no possibility of
  follow-up.

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Data Protection Act (1998)

• Relates to the processing of personal data
  (information) about individuals
• Collecting data only collect data that there is
  a legitimate research reason for collecting
  fair and for a specified purpose
• Handling data - Process and store data about
  individuals only with their consent
• Informedconsent why collecting data? for what
  purpose? how will it be stored? who will have
  access? will it be published?
• Disclosure - Do not disclose personal data about
  identified individuals to other people without
  their permission
• Personal data on individuals should not be stored
  or archived any longer than is necessary for
  legitimate research reasons

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Disclosure

• On occasions a researcher may unexpectedly
  observe illegal behaviour or behaviour that is
  likely to be harmful to the participants or
  others
• In these cases, the researcher must consider
  carefully whether to disclose this information to
  the appropriate authorities
• In so far as possible, researchers should inform
  participants and/or their guardians of their
  intention to disclose and the reasons for this

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ETHICAL CODES OF PRACTICE
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• Commitment to a Code of Ethics will ensure that
  all research is conducted according to the
  following concerns
• To respect the autonomy of individuals
• To avoid causing harm
• To treat people fairly
• To act with integrity
• To use resources as beneficially as possible

http//www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/About_Policie
s/Researchethics.pdf
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Ethics guidelines

• British Sociological Association Statement of
  Ethical Practice (2002)
• British Educational Research Association Ethical
  guidelines for educational research (2004)

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Carolyn Ellis The Ethnographic I
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• How did reading this make you feel? Why?
• What ethical issues does this reading raise?
• Is this writing ethical?

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IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUR WORK
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What ethical issues might arise in your research?

• Informed consent
• Research relationships
• Power dynamics in relationship between researcher
  and researched
• Insider research (including conflict of
  interest/values)
• Research topic/population
• Sensitive topics
• Vulnerable groups
• Research Methods
• Negotiating access (gatekeepers)
• Covert observation/deception
• Intrusive interventions
• Risk of harm to participants (including stress,
  anxiety or humiliation)
• Data collection, archiving and management
• Confidentiality and data protection

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TO FINISH
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Things to consider before and during research

• Your own motivations
• Eg how could your links to sponsors, personal
  convictions or career aspirations produce
  conflicts of interest?
• Consent
• Do you have informed consent?
• Necessary elements information understanding
  voluntariness competence of potential
  participants actual consent.
• Confidentiality
• Who has access to your data? How will it be
  stored? What will happen after research is
  completed? How are you going to inform your
  informants of confidentiality

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Things to consider before and during research

• Harm
• Could your research cause physical,
  psychological, cultural, financial, legal or
  environmental damage? How easily can participants
  withdraw from the research after it begins? Have
  similar studies been done before?
• Dissemination and feedback
• Are results available and comprehensible to
  participants? Could they be misinterpreted or
  misused? Who owns the results? You? Your
  sponsor?
• Cultural awareness
• Have you considered the personality, rights,
  beliefs and ethical views of your researched
  individuals/communities?
• Would you wish to be treated as you are treating
  your research participants?

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• Dr Natasha Whiteman
• new9_at_le.ac.uk