Research Ethics

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Research Ethics

• Andy Hobson Andy Townsend
• School of Education
• University of Nottingham

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• I have never known an interviewer to be
  completely honest with his respondents Neither
  does any researcher ever have adequate insight
  for a perfect representation of his identity it
  is always a matter of greater or lesser
  misrepresentation
• The researcher must also keep in mind that no
  method can ever be completely safe for himself or
  his respondents The ethics of social science
  are situation ethics (Humphreys, 1970).

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Outline

• 1. Introduction to research ethics and the PGR
  ethical review process
• What do we mean by research ethics?
• Why be concerned with research ethics?
• An overview of PGR ethical review in the School
  of Education
• The ethical guidelines of the British Educational
  Research Association (BERA)
• Standard ethical principles and obligations to
  (prospective) research participants
• Problems with codes of ethical conduct
• 2. Ethical issues in practitioner and action
  research
• 3. Considering ethical issues and dilemmas in
  research

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1. Introduction to research ethics and the PGR
ethical review process
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What do we mean by research ethics?

• An ethic is a moral principle or a code of
  conduct which governs what people do. It is
  concerned with the way people act or behave. The
  term ethics usually refers to the moral
  principles, guiding conduct, which are held by a
  group or even a profession (though there is no
  logical reason why individuals should not have
  their own ethical code) (Wellington, 2000 54)

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When are research ethics a concern?

• Not just something that occurs at the beginning
  of a research project / prior to fieldwork
  (Lewis, 2004).
• Ethical concerns should be at the forefront of
  any research project and should continue through
  to the write-up and dissemination stages
  (Wellington, 2000 3)

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Why be concerned with research ethics in the
School of Education?

• Professional responsibility avoidance of
  exploitation of research participants
• Research can be harmful
• to research participants
• to individual researchers
• to the School / University
• to our relations with schools
• to the research community
• Ethical malpractice exists
• BERA (2004) Revised Ethical Guidelines for
  Educational Research www.bera.ac.uk/publications
  /guides.php
• ESRC (2005) Research Ethics Framework
  www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportun
  ities/research_ethics_framework/
• We live in a more litigious society.

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An overview of the PGR ethics review procedure in
the School of Education, U of N.

• The Research Ethics folder on the student
  intranet includes information on
• Research ethics review procedure for PGR students
  (including MA Research Methods / ERM)
• Research ethics review procedure for postgraduate
  taught course (PGT) students
• Research ethics reading list
• The Data Protection legislation
• A generic research participant information sheet
• A generic participant consent form
• Relevant forms

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Research ethics review procedure for PGR students

• In advance of undertaking fieldwork, students are
  asked to
• Read about ethical issues
• Discuss ethical implications of their research
  with supervisors
• Submit a research ethics proposal to the PGR
  office for review and this should include
• a completed Statement of Research Ethics
• a brief statement of how they propose to gain
  access to research participants
• a draft participant information sheet
• a draft participant consent form
• signatures of student and supervisor
• The proposal is either approved or student is
  asked to (rethink,) revise and resubmit
• Comments on the proposal are given back to the
  student and copied to supervisor(s) and Director
  of PGR
• Research students undertaking research involving
  children or vulnerable adults must obtain CRB
  clearance

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The Revised Ethical Guidelines of the British
Educational Research Association (BERA, 2004)

• Underpinning Principles
• The Association considers that all educational
  research should be conducted within an ethic of
  respect for
• The Person
• Knowledge
• Democratic Values
• The Quality of Educational Research
• Academic Freedom
• The underpinning aim of the guidelines is to
  enable educational researchers to weigh up all
  aspects of the process of conducting educational
  research within any given context (from student
  research projects to large-scale funded projects)
  and to reach an ethically acceptable position in
  which their actions are considered justifiable
  and sound. (BERA 2004, p.3)

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BERA (2004) Ethical Guidelines (cont.)

• In guiding researchers on their conduct within
  this framework the Association sets out its
  guidelines under the following headings
• Responsibilities to Participants
• Responsibilities to Sponsors of Research
• Responsibilities to the Community of Educational
  Researchers

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Standard ethical principles / obligations to
(prospective) research participants

• Fully informed consent of prospective
  participants (for minors) responsible others.
  Researcher should provide information about
• the aims and nature of the research
• identity and contact details of researchers
• likely duration of research their involvement
• who will have access to data
• how data will be stored
• possible consequences of participation and of the
  research
• whether participants would have right to
  see/amend transcripts, comment on provisional
  data analyses etc.
• how results are likely to be disseminated
• the extent to which confidentiality and anonymity
  will be protected

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Standard ethical principles / obligations to
(prospective) research participants (cont.)

• Participants right to withdraw from study
• Confidentiality whilst researchers know who has
  provided data, they should not make this known to
  others
• Anonymity
• Non-traceability
• Protection of participants welfare attempt to
  ensure that participants are not harmed or
  detrimentally affected by the research
• Respect for participants right to privacy
• Respect for knowledge pursuit of truth
• Sensitivity to differences relating (for example)
  to age, culture, disability, race, sex, religion,
  sexual orientation.

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Problems with codes of ethical conduct

• Codes of ethical or professional conduct are only
  ever relatively finished products (Small, Codes
  are Not Enough, 2002)
• The principles listed in such codes are not
  always
• desirable e.g. anonymity
• achievable e.g. fully informed consent
  avoidance of harm
• compatible e.g. pursuit of knowledge versus
  fully informed consent / avoidance of deception.
• Individual researchers must therefore make
  choices
• weigh up competing ethical and other
  methodological considerations
• produce ethically and methodologically defensible
  position.

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Contrasting solutions / positions

• Ethics of research not priority
• it is always a matter of greater or lesser
  misrepresentation The ethics of social science
  are situation ethics (Humphreys, 1970).
• Research ethics priority
• My own view is that the MAIN CRITERION for
  educational research is that it should be
  ethical Every researcher should place it
  foremost in the planning, conduct and
  presentation of his / her research. Ethical
  considerations override all others (Wellington,
  2000 54 original emphasis).
• Research student and supervisor may not agree on
  where balance should lie.

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2. Ethical issues in practitioner and action
research
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Ethical issues in practitioner and action
research

• Introduction
• The preamble to BERA (2004) Ethical Guidelines
  states that
• This revision of the Associations Ethical
  Guidelines (for Educational Research) builds on
  the 1992 statement in two significant ways. First
  it seeks more fully to recognize the academic
  tensions that a multi-disciplinary community
  generates when dealing with the complex research
  issues that characterize education contexts.
  Secondly it seeks to include the field of action
  research (BERA 2004, p.3 emphasis added).

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BUT.

• beyond that not a great deal is said about
  practitioner research in general or action
  research in particular
• Researchers must take the steps necessary to
  ensure that all participants in the research
  understand the process in which they are to be
  engaged, including why their participation is
  necessary, how it will be used and how and to
  whom it will be reported. Researchers engaged in
  action research must consider the extent to which
  their own reflective research impinges on others,
  for example in the case of the dual role of
  teacher and researcher and the impact on students
  and colleagues. Dual roles may also introduce
  explicit tensions in areas such as
  confidentiality and must be addressed
  accordingly. (BERA 2004, p. 5)
• a group of teachers engaging in a process of
  action research as part of curriculum renewal
  should inform the school management of their
  intentions. (BERA 2004, p. 9)

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Some considerations regarding the ethics of
practitioner research

• Issues relating to the nature of research
• Varying forms of researching practice
• Differing forms of participation in practitioner
  research action research
• Communities of action researchers (is action
  research sufficiently unique)
• The knowledge that research can offer us is not
  for its own sake, but to help us to improve
  educational experiences for learners to address
  issues of social and educational injustice in our
  schools and collegesWe also hope that new
  knowledge can be created that helps us to work
  for a more humane, caring and selfactualising
  life for those we educate
• The ethical focus of practitioner research is,
  thus, on improvement for the other (Noddings,
  1994)
• (Dadds, M., 2002, Taking Curiosity Seriously
  the role of awe and Wanda in research-based
  professionalism, Educational Action Research,
  10, pp9-26).

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When does practice become research?

• Practice as a product of research
• Practice to be evaluated through research
• Practice as part of (integrated within) the
  research process
• Power relations in educational settings
• Researcher??pupils
• Researcher??colleagues
• Researcher??supervisor

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3. Considering ethical issues and dilemmas in
research
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Considering ethical issues and dilemmas

• The next two slides provide eleven questions you
  might consider in relation to your own position.
• The slides that follow cover issues that relate
  to some of these questions.

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Considering ethical issues and dilemmas
Questions part one

1. Where pupils will be involved as participants in
   a doctoral study, how (if at all) ought the
   informed consent of those pupils be secured?
2. Can we justify the use of reasonably fully
   informed consent (Cohen et al, 2000 51) i.e.
   the deliberate withholding of some information
   about the research to prospective participants?
   If so, under what circumstances?
3. What does the researcher do if s/he discovers
   that research participants are engaged in illegal
   activities and/or behaviour which is likely to
   cause harm to themselves or others?
4. Should research participants be given the option
   of not having data relating to them anonymised?
   If so, under what circumstances?
5. (a) Can we ever justify the use of covert
   techniques such as covert participant
   observation? (b)If so, must researchers seek to
   gain participants consent on a post hoc basis?
6. How much and what kinds of harm, if any, should
   be tolerated in relation to the conduct of
   educational research?

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Considering ethical issues and dilemmas
Questions part two

1. Are the ethical considerations of the
   participation of pupils, colleagues etc, any
   different for action research than other forms of
   research?
2. A teacher wants to trial a new teaching method as
   part of a practice-based research project. What
   does the supervisor do if they feel the new
   teaching method would not benefit pupils?
3. If a teacher chooses to do a piece of research on
   their own practice, a part of which would be the
   use of existing school based data, what processes
   would need to be in place (if any) to ensure that
   the research was ethical?
4. If participants choose to withdraw from a study
   (having initially given their informed consent to
   take part), should they also have the right to
   withdraw any data relating to their earlier
   involvement in the research?
5. What are the ethical implications of the use of
   visual data (e.g. photographs, video) in the
   presentation of ones research findings?

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Q1 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 1. Where pupils will be involved as participants
  in a doctoral study, how (if at all) ought the
  informed consent of those pupils be secured? For
  example
• (i) can teachers consent for pupils?
• (ii) can parents consent for pupils?
• (iii) can teachers consent for parents?
• BERA 2004 (para 5) requires that member
  researchers comply with Article 12 of United
  Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
  children who are capable of forming their own
  views should be granted the right to express
  their views freely in all matters affecting them,
  commensurate with their age and maturity.
  Children should therefore be facilitated to give
  fully informed consent.
• BERA 2004 (para 7) In the case of participants
  whose age, intellectual capability or other
  vulnerable circumstance may limit the extent to
  which they can be expected to understand or agree
  voluntarily to undertake their role, researchers
  must fully explore alternative ways in which they
  can be enabled to make authentic responses. In
  such circumstances, researchers must also seek
  the collaboration and approval of those who act
  in guardianship (e.g. parents) or as responsible
  others (i.e. those who have responsibility for
  the welfare and well-being of the participants
  e.g. social workers) (emphasis added)

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Q2 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 2. Can we justify the use of reasonably fully
  informed consent (Cohen et al, 2000 51) i.e.
  the deliberate withholding of some information
  about the research? If so, under what
  circumstances?
• in practice it is often impossible for
  researchers to inform subjects about
  everything (Cohen et al, 2000 51)
• I have never known an interviewer to be
  completely honest with his respondents Neither
  does any researcher ever have adequate insight
  for a perfect representation of his identity it
  is always a matter of greater or lesser
  misrepresentation (Humphreys, 1970).

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Q3 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 3. What does the researcher do if s/he discovers
  that research participants are engaged in illegal
  activities and/ or behaviour which is likely to
  cause harm to themselves or others?
• BERA 2004 (para 18) Researchers who judge that
  the effect of the agreements they have made with
  participants, on confidentiality and anonymity,
  will allow the continuation of illegal behaviour,
  which has come to light in the course of the
  research, must carefully consider making
  disclosure to the appropriate authorities. If the
  behaviour is likely to be harmful to the
  participants or to others, the researchers must
  also consider disclosure. Insofar as it does not
  undermine or obviate the disclosure, researchers
  must apprise the participants or their guardians
  or responsible others of their intentions and
  reasons for disclosure.
• Reference ought to be made to this issue in the
  information provided to participants at the
  outset before they consent to or decline the
  invitation to take part in the research.

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Q4 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 4. Should research participants be given the
  option of not having data relating to them
  anonymised? If so, under what circumstances?
• BERA 2004 (para 14) The confidential and
  anonymous treatment of participants data is
  considered the norm for the conduct of research.
  Researchers must recognize the participants
  entitlement to privacy and must accord them their
  rights to confidentiality and anonymity, unless
  they or their guardians or responsible others,
  specifically and willingly waive that right. In
  such circumstances it is in the researchers
  interests to have such a waiver in writing.
  Conversely, researchers must also recognize
  participants rights to be identified with any
  publication of their original works or other
  inputs, if they so wish. In some contexts it will
  be the expectation of participants to be so
  identified. (Emphasis added)
• But if only some participants wish to waive the
  right to anonymity, allowing them to do so might
  compromise the non-traceability of others.

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Q5a Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 5(a). Can we ever justify the use of covert
  techniques such as covert participant
  observation?
• Why should covert methods be censured in social
  and educational research when their use is
  sanctioned more readily in other areas of social
  life? (Calvey 2004).
• NB Covert observation is discouraged but not
  ruled out by most of the influential Codes of
  Conduct of educational and social research
  organisations, including AERA (2000), BERA
  (2004), the American Sociological Association
  (ASA, 1999), the British Sociological Association
  (BSA, 2002), the American Psychological
  Association (APA, 2002) and the British
  Psychological Society (BPS, 1993)
• The securing of participants voluntary informed
  consent, before research gets underway, is
  considered the norm for the conduct of research.
  Researchers must therefore avoid deception or
  subterfuge unless their research design
  specifically requires it to ensure that the
  appropriate data is collected or that the welfare
  of the researchers is not put in jeopardy.
  Decisions to use deception or subterfuge in
  research must be the subject of full deliberation
  The Association recommends that approval for
  this course of action should be obtained from a
  local or institutional ethics committee. (BERA
  2004, para. 7 emphasis added)

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Q5b Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 5(b). If covert research / deception is
  considered justifiable in some circumstances and
  employed, must researchers seek to gain
  participants consent on a post hoc basis?
• This (post hoc consent) is recommended by BERA
  2004 AERA 2000 BSA 2002) BUT

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Q6 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• Q6. How much and what kinds of harm, if any,
  should be tolerated in relation to the conduct of
  educational research?
• Researchers must recognize that participants may
  experience distress or discomfort in the research
  process and must take all necessary steps to
  reduce the sense of intrusion and to put them at
  their ease. They must desist immediately from any
  actions, ensuing from the research process, that
  cause emotional or other harm. (BERA 2004, p.
  6).
• (Australian) National Statement on Ethical
  Conduct (1999) researchers have an obligation to
  maximise potential benefits and minimise
  possible harms (emphasis added)
• SRA (2003) social researchers must strive to
  protect subjects from undue harm arising as a
  consequence of their participation in research
  (emphasis added)
• APA (2002) psychologists do not deceive
  prospective participants about research that is
  reasonably expected to cause physical pain or
  severe emotional distress

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Q78 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• Q7. Are the ethical considerations of the
  participation of pupils, colleagues etc, any
  different for action research than other forms of
  research?
• Q8. A teacher wants to trial a new teaching
  method as part of a practice-based research
  project. What does the supervisor do if they feel
  the new teaching method would not benefit pupils?
• The British Educational Research Association
  requires researchers to comply with Articles 3
  and 12 of the United Nations Convention on the
  Rights of the Child. Article 3 requires that in
  all actions concerning children, the best
  interests of the child must be the primary
  consideration.

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Q910 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• 9. If a teacher chooses to do a piece of research
  on their own practice, a part of which would be
  the use of existing school based data, what
  processes would need to be in place (if any) to
  ensure that the research was ethical?
• 10. If research participants choose to withdraw
  from a study (having initially given their
  informed consent to take part), should they also
  have the right to withdraw any data relating to
  their earlier involvement in the research?

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Q11 Ethical issues and dilemmas

• Q11. What are the ethical implications of the use
  of visual data (e.g. photographs, video) in the
  presentation of ones research findings?
• Consider the scenario of making a documentary
  film of a school The hierarchy of the school,
  on understanding the potential advantages of
  making the film, could entice or inveigle the
  subjects (teachers, administrators and students)
  to take part for the schools common good
• Moreover the outcomes of filming cannot be
  preordained and it is only in editing can the
  final story be told, which means ultimate
  control lies with the film-makers not the
  subjects And since the effects of the film on
  actors and audience can rarely be predicted by
  the film-maker, there can be no guarantees of
  negative repercussions on subjects.
• These points exemplify how easy it is for ethical
  ideals to be subverted in practice.
• (Prosser, J., The Moral Maze of Image Research,
  in H. Simons R. Usher 2000, Situated Ethics
  in Educational Research. London Routledge.
  Emphasis added.)
• http//education.leeds.ac.uk/edu-jdp/image/moral_
  maze.html

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References

• BERA , 2004, Revised Ethical Guidelines for
  Educational Research www.bera.ac.uk/publications
  /guides.php
• Cohen, L. Lawrence, M. Morrison, K. , 2000,
  Research Methods in Education 5th Edition.
  London and New York Routledge/Falmer
• Dadds, M.,2002, Taking Curiosity Seriously the
  role of awe and Wanda in research-based
  professionalism, Educational Action Research, 10
• ESRC (2005) Research Ethics Framework
  www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportun
  ities/research_ethics_framework/
• Humphreys, L., 1970, Tearoom Trade. London
  Duckworth
• Lewis, G. (2004) Developing a Framework for
  Social Science Research Ethics, paper delivered
  at Conference on Ethical Frameworks for Research,
  Milton Keynes, 4 November.
• Prosser, J., The Moral Maze of Image Research, in
  H. Simons R. Usher ,2000 , Situated Ethics in
  Educational Research. London Routledge
• Small, R. (2004) Codes are not enough what
  philosophy can contribute to the ethics of
  educational research, in M. McNamee D. Bridges
  (Eds.) The Ethics of Educational Research
  (Oxford Blackwell Publishing), 89-110.
• Wellington, J., 2000, Educational Research
  contemporary issues and practical approaches,
  London Continuum