Research Ethics
for SAHC MA Students –
becoming an ethical
researcher
Abigail Gilmore
What are ‘research ethics’ …
and why do they matter?
• All research raises issues of integrity,
honesty and trust.
• Research that involves human subjects or
participants raises ethical, legal, social and
political issues.
• A code of ethics articulates a common set
of values upon which researchers base
their work.
What are ‘research ethics’ and why do they matter?
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (from the American Sociological Association)
• Professional Competence (we recognize the limitations of our
expertise and undertake only those tasks for which we are qualified
by education, training, or experience)
• Integrity (being honest, fair, and respectful)
• Respect for People's Rights, Dignity, and Diversity (by
acknowledging/ eliminating bias in our research; being sensitive to
cultural and individual differences in studying groups of people with
distinctive characteristics)
• Professional Responsibility (to ensure public trust in research)
• Social Responsibility (to the communities and societies in which we
live and work: how can our research contribute to the public good?)
Research Ethics in Practice
• Academic Malpractice (plagiarism, falsifying
data, taking short cuts)/
• Identifying/being aware of conflicts of interest
and competing obligations.
• Recognising/acknowledging bias/discrimination
&c.
• Obtaining informed consent from
participants/subjects, and respecting
confidentiality/preserving anonymity &c.
Research Involving Human Participants
• All research proposals that include data collection involving human
participants normally requires prior ethical approval to ensure the
safety, rights, dignity and well-being of the participant and those of
the researcher.
• You are required to declare whether or not this applies to your
dissertation / project topic and, if so, how these ethical issues are to
be addressed.
• In doing so, you are providing assurance that you have read the
guidelines and considered whether your proposed dissertation
raises ethical issues which require the attention of the SAHC ethical
committee and /or the University’s Senate Committee on the Ethics
of Research on Human Beings.
• Ethical approval should not be considered as a bureaucratic
obstacle; it is a mechanism for ensuring and demonstrating that the
design of your research respects the rights of those who are the
participants of the research.
Do I need ethical approval – or not?
• YES: examples of activities for which approval is
required include questionnaire and interview based
research involving sensitive or confidential issues,
telephone interviewing or recording by audio or video
tape and contact with participants who are children or
considered as potentially vulnerable adults.
• NO: research where the information about human
participants is publicly and lawfully available e.g.
information published in the census, population statistics
published by the government, personal letters and
diaries etc held in public libraries/archives do not require
ethical approval.
• ACTION: Discuss with your supervisor!
Confidentiality and Anonymity
• The confidentiality of information supplied by research participants
and the anonymity of respondents must be respected.
• Do NOT give unrealistic guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity.
• Where appropriate and practicable, methods for preserving
anonymity should be used including the removal of identifiers, the
use of pseudonyms and other technical means for breaking the link
between data and identifiable individuals.
• Appropriate measures should be taken to store research data in a
secure manner. You should be aware of your obligations under the
Data Protection Act.
• Data and results obtained from the research should only be used in
the ways for which consent has been given.
• Informed consent is key!
Recruiting Participants
• Participants should enter into the research freely and
willingly and know and understand what they are
agreeing to when they take part.
• No one should be made to participate in a research
study against their will. No undue influence should be
exerted in order to persuade someone to take part in the
research.
• Build time into research to ensure participants can
withdraw if they wish.
• It is inappropriate to offer volunteers excessive payments
which might induce them to participate in a study against
their better judgement. Small payments may be made in
order to compensate participants for their time and
inconvenience, plus out-of-pocket expenses.
Obtaining Consent
• Informed consent entails giving as much information as
possible about the potential research so that the
prospective participants can make an informed decision
about their possible involvement.
• Written information should be supplied to participants
making clear that the research is for a student project. It
should be written in terms that an ordinary person rather
than a specialist in the field can understand.
• You should consider whether the participant will be able
to read the information you provide and consider how to
deal with problems of illiteracy or where the participant is
not fluent in the language used.
Data Protection Act
• The Data Protection Act gives individuals the right to
know what information is held about them. It provides a
framework to ensure that personal information is handled
properly.
• Anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight
principles, which make sure that personal information is:
– Fairly and lawfully processed
– Processed for limited purposes
– Adequate, relevant and not excessive
– Accurate and up to date
– Not kept for longer than is necessary
– Processed in line with your rights
– Secure
– Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection
Your responsibilities as an interviewer
• To consider the purpose of the interview and the possible range of
future uses to which it might be put.
• To carry out research and acquire sufficient technical knowledge to
conduct an interview of the best possible standard.
• To inform the interviewee of the purpose for which the interview is to
be carried out, with background information where appropriate, and
ensure he or she has understood this.
• To determine the preferences of the interviewee as to the location
and conduct of the interview (for example the presence of other
persons; subject matter or personal references to be avoided).
• To treat interviewees with respect and courtesy.
• To observe confidentiality until a clearance form or other access
agreement has been finalised.
• To record in writing any restrictions which the interviewee may
require.
• To ensure that the interview is documented and made available as
agreed with the interviewee.
Example (1)
• You are doing research on theatre workshops in
prisons. You are working with a local theatre
group who run theatre programmes in a prison,
and will be observing some of their workshops.
You also intend to interview the directors of the
theatre group, several prison wardens, and
several prisoners. You are also hoping to locate
some former prisoners who took part in the
workshops and have since been released to ask
them how they feel that taking part in the theatre
workshops helped with their return to life outside
prison.
• What steps do you need to take to ensure your
work is ethical?
Example (2)
•
You are doing research into blogging, and the
ways in which blogging is changing political
discourse. You intend to look at a number of
high-profile blogs and some smaller blogs, and
will also be investigating at the way discussions
evolve in comments and across a series of blogs.
Most of the blogs have email addresses
associated with them, but many of the
comments are left by anonymous or
pseudonymous commentors. You are also
hoping to interview some of the bloggers.
• What steps do you need to take to ensure your
work is ethical?
Example (3)
Janet is researching the educational impact of a
programme of workshops for primary school
children at the Whitworth Art Gallery. She wants
to observe a number of workshops as they take
place, and also investigate the responses of
both teachers and pupils to the activities that
they have taken part in.
• What are the ethical issues raised by this?
Questions for case studies
• What would this research need to get ethical approval
from the university?
• If this research was completed to the very highest
standard, what sort of protocols, apparatus and
methodological tools would be used?
• Where might this researcher look for good models of
practice?
• Who are the stakeholders in this research? Who would
care about the results?
• What is the researcher’s responsibility to these
stakeholders?
Further questions
• Where might the researcher’s responsibility to one set of
stakeholders conflict with their responsibility to another
set of stakeholders?
• Is there any way of resolving this conflict?
• What does the researcher want to get out of this
research? Might the researcher’s desires come into
conflict with those of (any or all) of the stakeholders? Is
there any way of resolving this conflict?
• Are there any new conflicts which might arise if this
research were to be disseminated into the public realm?
Is there any way it might be misinterpreted? What steps
could the researcher take to try and minimise the
likelihood of this?
Next Steps
• The ethical audit
• Discuss with ethical issues/need for ethical
approval with your supervisor
• Complete the Declaration of Research with your
supervisor
• Complete and submit Application for Ethical
Approval form (to Kevin Little, SAHC Taught
Programmes office), with attached (where
relevant):copy of questionnaire &c
copy of consent form
Further sources of information
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
http://www.esrc.ac.uk
Arts, Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
http://www.ahrb.ac.uk/
British Sociological Association
http://www.britsoc.co.uk/new_site/index.php
Association of Social Anthropologists
http://www.theasa.org/
Political Studies Association
http://www.psa.ac.uk/
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)
http://www.disclosure.gov.uk
Central Office for Research Ethics Committee – COREC (NHS)http://ww.corec.org.uk
The Human Rights Act (1988)http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/19980042.htm