ETHICAL ISSUES FOR FIELD STUDY
DEALING WITH PEOPLE
Following is a list of ethical concerns for gathering and managing data, which focuses on ensuring that:
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M/E results are accurate, complete and fair and will be ethically used
Stakeholders participating in M/E activities are respected and protected
Individuals collecting data are respected and protected.
Managers of M&E activities are responsible for establishing mechanisms to ensure that the design of a given
M/E activity responds to the concerns below, that the implementation of the design is monitored and that
there is a process for determining an adequate response to any negative incidents.
RESULTS ARE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, AND FAIR,
AND WILL BE ETHICALLY USED
Ensure good quality
research
Reliability, accuracy, validity, generalisability are not only intellectual questions
for M&E design, but have also an ethical hue. “Is analysis careful and well
founded? Are generalisations false or inappropriate?
Do not allow for
misinterpretation and
misappropriation
Anticipate how others might use your M&E results or how they might
misappropriate or misinterpret it, as this may result in your betraying the degree
of trust generated in your interactions with stakeholders.
Be aware of power
relations
Be aware of power relations and your responsibilities if you are exercising
power. Remember that being the representative of an organisation that
determines to whom it will give aid will often put you in a very particular position.
But also be aware of power that other stakeholders (e.g. very powerful people)
are exercising on you.
Consider whose interest a study is serving: the community’s? The implementing
organisation’s? The donors’?
Guard data access and
ownership
Who will have access to the data? For what purposes? Who owns the data?
Who will benefit economically from published data? Be clear about this in the
ToR and clarify if respondents so wish.
Share results
Partners in a programme/project are generally eager to receive results of an
M/E activity as are sister organisations. Different organisations have different
disclosure policies as well as different views as to whom they are accountable.
Dissemination of M/E results must weigh the social and political concerns that
may stem from sharing information widely against the commitments to
participants in a programme/project and M/E activity and wider accountabilities.
Ensure right to service
This is relevant in M/E activities that require a no-treatment control group, i.e.
who won’t receive the treatment or the beneficial effects of a programme. The
need for information requiring a control group is necessarily weighed against
people’s rights to equal access to services.
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STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATING IN M&E ACTIVITIES ARE
RESPECTED AND PROTECTED
Put people first
Put people's priorities first. This is particularly important in crisis contexts, when
the first priority of people is to survive. M&E activities should respect that and
not interfere.
In all contexts, people can be extremely busy and their participation in M&E
activities can be burdensome. Choose suitable timing and minimise the
demands on their time.
Also, consider the interviewee fatigue that originates in contexts when several
M&E activities are conducted in a short span of time by different agencies.
Those tend to impinge on the same people/key informants: co-ordination should
help limiting such interference with the life of a community.
Ensure that
participation is
voluntary, respect
privacy
People should not be coerced into participating in M&E. Provide ample notice
when possible.
Avoid raising
expectations
What is the interest of the people in participating? Beware of raising false
expectations (e.g. promises of interventions). In general, do not make promises
lightly (e.g. a copy of the report or photos taken) and if you make promises,
keep them.
Use informed consent
Be attentive when explaining the purpose of M&E activities; clarify expectations
and build trust, especially when there is a potential for misunderstanding and
mistrust.
Participants must be adequately informed about the procedures and the risks
involved. Consider an agreement on the duration of the interview or on the place
where it will take place (e.g. some situations may require avoidance of politically
sensitive issues in public). Always give people the opportunity to withdraw their
consent at any stage.
Consider whose consent to ask (e.g. a parent on behalf of a child) and if it is
desirable to gain the consent of someone other than the interviewee (e.g. a
husband for a wife, an employer on behalf of employees).
Also reflect on how much choice people really have in participating. Power
relations and pressure on people can force them to take part even if they do not
wish it or feel uncomfortable about it.
Ensure balanced
representation;
recognize different
interests
It is essential to investigate, consider and balance the views of all key
stakeholders. Consider those involved in but also affected by an intervention.
The success of an intervention can depend on the attitudes and interests of
people that are not primary stakeholders of the project; for example, a response
to internally displaced persons requires understanding of the perspectives of the
host population. Similarly, some groups (women, disabled, children) can be
accustomed to being kept hidden; it is important to develop a M/E methodology
and style that allows them to express themselves (Pratt, Loizos, 1992: 17).
The voice of stronger or more marginalised groups and sub-groups must be
balanced. A physical community (a village, a settlement) does not necessarily
mean there is a convergence of interest. Conflicting interests and histories of
competition between groups and families can exist and be exacerbated by a
crisis (Adapted from Pratt, Loizos, 1992:37).
Protect confidentiality
Only those directly involved in the M&E activity should have access to any
identifying information. Ask yourself what reasonable promises of confidentiality
can be fully honoured. Think carefully in advance about how data will be
analysed and reported. Photos and visual data, for example, can make
confidentiality impossible to maintain.
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Avoid bias and
understand it when you
see it
Avoid over-reliance on particular informants. Remember that people on which
you will rely because they are willing to help, knowledgeable, articulate and
show a deep understanding of the community can have their own biases.
Be aware of the role that misinformation/propaganda play in complex
emergencies and how it can bias results. People who are directly involved tend
to produce highly coloured, partisan accounts of what has been happening. This
is normal: this is their perspective.
Respect beliefs,
manners and customs
Familiarise yourself with beliefs, manners, and customs before going into the
field. Both in data collection and reporting, show respect for customs regarding
dress, personal interaction, religious beliefs and practices.
At the same time, efforts to ensure balanced representation (see above) may
entail a break with tradition. Be particularly sensitive to the possible
repercussions.
Understand the balance
of certain fundamental
values
There is a delicate balance between certain cultural practices and the
deprivation of fundamental rights and freedoms. While being asked to respect
other cultures, be aware, too, of the donor country’s values affecting minorities
and particular groups, such as women. The United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is the operative guide in such matters.
Respect silence and
conflicting views
A "culture of silence" — a passive resistance to outside intervention — can
manifest itself in a lack of co-operation with those conducting M&E activities.
This can be based on bitter past experiences. Participants may not respond to
certain questions – silence is a response.
Similarly M&E activities must find a way to respect and balance conflicting views
and bring participants to understand this process.
Avoid trick questions
Do not use trick questions to catch the interviewees out or to confuse them, or
doggedly pursue a particular issue.
Do no harm
Keep participants out of dangerous situations.
Asking people about sensitive/controversial issues can result in putting them at
risk, especially in crisis and unstable settings. It is the responsibility of
managers of assessment, monitoring and evaluation activities as well as the
"doers" (researchers, field staff) to ensure that these risks are at least identified
and discussed with people at risk. Consider psychological stress, legal
liabilities, discontinuation in programme participation (if certain things became
known), ostracism by peers, neighbours, programmes staff or others for having
talked, political repercussions.
Recognise and deal
with trauma
This applies in particular to victims of an emergency. They are traumatised
people, probably dealing with pressure never handled before and are finding
difficult to deal with. This must be considered when meeting them, either to
avoid raising trauma through interview or to be able to assess to what extent
answers are affected by trauma. This requires that people collecting data be
sensitive to them, empathetic, and careful not to push sensitive issues.
Offer appropriate
“remuneration”
Paying participants has always been considered bad practice in social research,
as it may bias replies to become pleasing. Consider tokens of appreciation
appropriate in the given situation: on-the-spot photos, tea or sodas, etc. After
group interviews, consider a gift particularly relevant to the topic of joint concern
(e.g. documentation on the topic).
Avoid judging
individuals
Performance evaluation of individuals is not normally a part of
programme/project evaluation though reports will touch issues such as
leadership and management competence that border on evaluation of
individuals. Evaluators must balance an evaluation of management functions
with this general principle.
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INDIVIDUALS COLLECTING DATA ARE RESPECTED AND PROTECTED
Responsibility for M/E
activity
Discuss any statements with all members of an M/E team before they are
offered as being made on behalf of the team.
In developing countries, criticism can have serious consequences for a national.
Care should be taken that the local personnel involved in the study either
endorse a report, or that their restricted roles are clearly described in the report.
Omissions
Ethically, those conducting M&E have a responsibility to bring to light issues and
findings that may not relate directly to the Terms of Reference. Certain other
issues can cause difficulties for the person or people conducting M&E and
should be acknowledged and discussed as necessary.
Evidence of
wrongdoing
M&E activities sometime uncovers evidence of wrongdoing. This can be
complicated by an interpretation in the culture of the partner country that is
different from the interpretation in the donor country. Reporting on this should be
addressed with care.
Exposure to suffering
In some extreme cases, those conducting an M/E activity can be exposed to
acute human suffering, and it is important to deal with it adequately, respecting
the dignity of people. Finding the adequate balance of detachment and
involvement can be hard, but it is important that, even in those conditions, M/E
professionals maintain their objectivity and professionalism without losing their
responsiveness to human issues. In these contexts it is important to provide
adequate support to M/E staff or consultants to manage stress and trauma.
Being exposed to suffering and pain, and the close dialogue with people in
distress means that they can be exposed to ethical dilemmas and they need to
be prepared to confront them adequately.
Need for assistance/
debriefing of local
counterparts
If local counterparts are conducting the activities (e.g. interviews) and not the
“doer” personally, debriefing must be a routine. Local counterparts may need to
let off steam, depending for example on the sensitivity of data collected,
harassment from respondents, etc.
Source for those principles includes:
DANIDA (1999). Evaluation Guidelines (http://www.um.dk/danida/evalueringsrapporter/eval-gui/index.asp); Mikkelsen,
Britha (1995). Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide for Practitioners, Sage, New Delhi; Manson,
(1996) Qualitative researching. Sage, London; Pratt, Loizos (1992). Choosing Research Methods - Data Collection for
Development Workers. Oxfam, Oxford.
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