Workshop Proposal
Qualitative Researchers: Guests in the Private Spaces in the World
Kay Fielden
School of Computing and Information Technology
Faculty of Business
UNITEC Institute of Technology
Carrington Rd, Mt Albert, Auckland, New Zealand
kfielden@unitec.ac.nz
In this workshop participants will explore the multiple and complex way qualitative researchers
engage with the world in the research process. As the number of qualitative research methods
and the disciplines in which qualitative research is practiced has proliferated, so the ethical
dilemmas faced by qualitative researchers have multiplied. Informed consent is a vexing issue
for many qualitative researchers ((Braud and Anderson 1998; Denzin and Lincoln 1998; Lee
1999; Christians 2000; Denzin and Lincoln 2000; Fontana and Frey 2000; Avgerou 2001)). In
particular, the principle of informed consent will be explored across a variety of qualitative
research methods including case study, action research and grounded theory.
The framework for this workshop has emerged as a result of difficulties experienced in gaining
ethics approval for postgraduate students in the Masters in Computing at UNITEC. Data has
been gathered about an appropriate level of ethics approval for theses or dissertation in business
computing from the information technology email list IS-World. This data will be shared with
workshop participants.
In this workshop participants will engage in the following phases:
1. Exploring the concept of guests in the private spaces in the world as a qualitative
researcher
2. Identifying the multiple meanings of informed consent in qualitative research
3. Discovering the ‘points of tension’ for informed consent in qualitative research
4. Developing a framework for appropriate informed consent according to research method,
culture, context and protocols within the private space being investigated
5. Reflecting on the workshop process as an experiential learning exercise
Participants will deliver a joint presentation of this shared experience to the conference delegates.
Keywords
Research Ethics, Postgraduate Education, Qualitative Research Methods
References
Avgerou, C. (2001). “The significance of context in information systems and organisational change.”
Information Systems Journal 11: 43-63.
Braud, W. and R. Anderson (1998). Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences: Honoring
Human Experience. USA, Sage Pub.
Christians, C. (2000). Ethics and Politics in Qualitative Research. The Handbook of Qualitative Research.
N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Pub: 133-155.
Denzin, N. K. and Y. S. Lincoln, Eds. (1998). Strategies of Qualitative Research. USA, Sage Pub.
Denzin, N. K. and Y. S. Lincoln, Eds. (2000). The Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks,
California, Sage Pub.
Fontana, A. and J. H. Frey (2000). The Interview: From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text. The
Handbook of Qualitative Research. N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Pub:
645-672.
Lee, A. S. (1999). “Rigor and Relevance in MIS Research: Beyond the Approach of Positivism Alone.”
MIS Quarterly 23(1): 29-35.