Case Study 10 Dissertation Case Study
Managing sensitive topics in dissertation supervision: a personal
view
Over the years various ethical issues have surfaced in my experience of supervising
final level undergraduate dissertations. The 2 case studies below relate to the
following issues:



How to identify appropriate and inappropriate choices of topics
How to negotiate with students about acceptable ways of handling sensitive
topics
How to explore limits on students' research of certain topics or groups.
Case Study 1: Researching domestic violence
A dissertation tutee, who had not surfaced all year, arrived at my office seeking a
tutorial, after the hand-in date for assignments. She claimed extenuating
circumstances which would justify a late submission. I was in two minds as to
whether to see her since she was well outside the teaching term and had failed to
make any contact with me during the academic year. I agreed to a one-off session.
She wanted to send a questionnaire on domestic violence to couples. The draft not
only asked informants about their attitudes to domestic violence, but also whether
they had actually engaged in violent behaviour towards their partner or not. My
response addressed issues related to a number of issues the student appeared not
to have thought about:
Ethics - the fact that if a partner was violent, there was a danger that the
questionnaire might trigger a domestic violence incident, and that this was decidedly
unethical, since one of the first ethical principles of research is to do no harm to
research subjects.
Confidentiality - if informants were to answer 'yes' and give details of how they had
beaten up their partner, this would result in evidence of criminal behaviour, which, as
a citizen, she might have a duty to report to the police, and that this would mean she
would have to breach any guarantees of confidentiality she had given.
Negative publicity- if newspaper headlines appeared in the local press to the effect
that a student questionnaire from XX University had contributed towards a domestic
violence incident this would have serious implications for the University's credibility.
This student was on a Combined Studies programme and appeared not to have
studied in her degree programme any modules on research or research ethics.
I helped the student to rework her questionnaire, focusing on general attitudes
towards domestic violence and omitting any questions about behaviour by
informants.
Case Study 2: Researching sexual harassment in a university
A student selected the topic of sexual harassment in her university. The first draft of
her questionnaire to students included not only attitudinal questions about how
students defined sexual harassment and what they regarded as acceptable and of
unacceptable behaviour; it also asked whether they had been sexually harassed by
another student or by a member of staff.
After careful consideration, while I could see that the inclusion of questions about
experiences of harassment were a valid part of this topic, I came to the view they
should not be included in an undergraduate study, which was being undertaken
primarily for the purpose of achieving a degree, rather than producing a total study of
a topic.
At the time I was a Subject Group Leader, responsible for managing the Sociology
section at the university where I worked. This may have made me more aware of the
implications and responsibilities for managers related to the possible outcomes of
this research. If informants were to state that they had been sexually harassed,
either by another student or a member of staff, surely managers could not ignore this?
There would have to be an identification of both alleged harasser and alleged victim
and a disciplinary investigation. This would mean the student could not guarantee
confidentiality to her informants. The student appeared not to have thought through
the consequences of the questions she was asking, either for her participants or
herself.
© Dr Elizabeth Lawrence, Sheffield Hallam University