RECOUP/Ethical issues

Understanding ethical concerns and dilemmas in conducting research

Ethical issues arise throughout any piece of social research, and we would encourage you to include a discussion of ethical issues as and when they arise, throughout any training workshop using this manual. Ethical issues often shade into political ones, and there are also close links between ethical concerns and issues around participation. Ethical issues also shade into questions of trust: since 'the researcher is the research instrument' in some important ways, the reader and/or user of qualitative research needs to be able to trust the researcher to have followed the appropriate procedures. In each of the other sessions we have tried to highlight such concerns. But you may also want to devote a specific session to considering ethical issues. It would be easy to spend a half day on this topic, and not difficult to programme a full day's activities. Here we have restricted ourselves to an introduction to ethical issues in a relatively narrow sense, with suggestions for further readings later.

Time: 60-90 minutes

Objectives

To introduce participants to key ethical concerns in the design or a piece of qualitative research, and in the processes of data collection, data management, data analysis and publication, with particular reference to:

• What is informed consent? When is it essential, and how should it be gathered?
• What are the benefits and costs of written consent forms, and when should they be used?
• How to avoid harm to respondents
• The uses of anonymising data and the maintenance of confidentiality
• Reciprocity in research relationships
• Reflexivity and ethics

By the end of this session, participants should have reflected on the various dilemmas that may be encountered in the field and how to manage them -- and be aware that for many of these dilemmas there is no 'right' or simple solution.

Preparation

Handouts of all (or extracts from) relevant research council and professional association guidelines or ethical codes. Some examples are available on line: for example the British Sociological Association http://www.britsoc.co.uk/equality/Statement+Ethical+Practice.htm;

The Social Research Association http://www.the-sra.org.uk/ethical.htm;

National Committee for Ethics in Social Science Research in Health (NCESSRH), India http://www.cehat.org/publications/ethical2.html;

Examples of 'consent forms' either to hand out or to show on a projector. Two from the UK are available as Handouts: Template:HOA and Example consent form

The use of written consent might not be appropriate in all research settings and contexts. You might find the further readings useful for facilitating discussions about the limits and possibilities of consent forms and other approaches to seeking participant consent.

Process

1. Brainstorm (either in small groups or in full session) about the kinds of issues that people think are important with respect to ethics in social research generally. Then go through the list that emerges and ask which of these raise special concerns in qualitative social research (10 minutes).
2. Hand out (or put up on a slide) examples of consent forms and ask people to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses for qualitative social research in your settings (10 minutes)
3. (If this session is near the end of the workshop): Review the suggestions for anonymising household census, interview, focus group and fieldnote data, and for ensuring the confidentiality of data in hard copy and in electronic versions. (10 minutes)
4. (If this session is near the beginning of the workshop): Raise the issues of how and when to anonymise data and how to ensure their security: (20 minutes)
5. Brainstorm on the experience of participants about whether or not to 'pay' informants (10 minutes)
6. Handout the Template:HOA (or another relevant summary statement) and give people time to read it and discuss it in small groups (10 minutes). Then take 15 minutes to discuss as a whole group any further issues that arise.

Further reading

The UK's main social science funding body, the Economic and Social Research Council, has a detailed statement on research ethics with a checklist of things to do: this can be found at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/ESRC_Re_Ethics_Frame_tcm6-11291.pdf

The Social Research Association web-site has a further discussion on ethical issues and current debates: http://www.the-sra.org.uk/ethical.htm

The Association of Social Anthropologists also has an active debate on ethical issues: see http://www.theasa.org/ethics.htm

For an example of an ethical review procedure that has been introduced in a British University, see http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/admin/info_research/ethics

Further reading on ethical issues of consent:

• Creed-Kanashiro H, Oré B, Scurrah M, Gil A, and Penny M (2005) Conducting Research in Developing Countries: Experiences of the Informed Consent Process from Community Studies in Peru The Journal of Nutrition 135:925-928, April . Free-online access here: [[1]]

Abstract: This article discusses the process for obtaining genuine informed consent for the participation of human subjects in research in developing countries. We discuss the consent process in the light of recently published guidelines, the experience of nutrition and health research projects, and the ethics review process of the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional with peri-urban and rural populations in Peru. We discuss the cultural context in relation to (i) who should be involved in the decision for participation, especially for research in children and in community settings; (ii) when to use written or verbal consent; (iii) the format and presentation of the consent form to ensure understanding by the target population; and (iv) the process of how and by whom information is given and consent is obtained. Common concerns of participants with regard to their involvement in research studies are presented, as well as aspects that participants find difficult to understand. Some specific concerns of conducting research with Indigenous Peoples are discussed. We recommend future research to further understand and implement informed consent processes to assure genuine and voluntary consent in different developing country contexts.

• Upvall, M (2001) Negotiating the informed-consent process in developing countries: a comparison of Swaziland and Pakistan International Nursing Review 8(3):188-192, September

Abstract: Protecting the rights of research participants when conducting studies within an international context presents many challenges. The purpose of this article was to compare and contrast the process of obtaining informed consent in two very different countries - Swaziland and Pakistan. Major aspects of the informed-consent process presented included identification of gatekeepers, seeking permission from officials, negotiating with these officials and Institutional Review Board (IRB) committees in regard to the type of data to be collected, and explaining informed consent to participants in the field. Data for this article is based upon qualitative research of collaboration between nurses and healers in Swaziland and from a variety of studies completed in Pakistan. These studies demonstrate the inadequacy and complexity of applying western-based concepts of informed consent to developing countries.

• Riessman, C (2005) Exporting ethics: a narrative about narrative research in South India Health Vol. 9, No. 4, 473-490

Abstract: The article notes some problems with the prepositional discourse of research ethics that is dominant in the West, and joins the call for an ethics-in-context approach in the human sciences. Using detailed examples from my fieldwork in South India to develop a narrative about ethical conflicts, I explore the problematics of informed consent, confidentiality and other concepts central to research ethics in the USA. The article underscores the inherent and practical risks associated with ethical universalism - applying ‘universal’ moral principles that have been constructed (that is, derived) in one cultural context and exporting them, without modifications, to another. The personal narrative includes my emotions in the field; they do moral work. The article draws theoretically from Bakhtin, Rabinow and feminist scholars of the Indian diaspora.

• Rashad A M, MacVane Phipps F, and Haith-Cooper M, (2004) Obtaining Informed Consent in an Egyptian Research Study Nursing Ethics Vol. 11, No. 4, 394-399

Abstract: This article explores the concept of internationally acceptable codes of ethics within the context of an Egyptian nurse’s PhD studies. Theoretical work, including gaining ethical approval for the project, took place in the UK, while the data collection phase of the study was done in Egypt. This highlighted areas where the Arab Muslim interpretation of some ethical principles, especially around the issue of gaining informed consent, differed from that currently accepted in British research ethics. The authors argue that it may not be possible, or even desirable, to standardize codes of ethics globally in areas such as academic research. Ethical principles develop from a unique mix of culture and religion. It may be more important to develop cultural competence that includes the ability to understand and respect the way in which ethical principles are interpreted by various societies.

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Singal, N., and Jeffery, R. (2008). Qualitative Research Skills Workshop: A Facilitator's Reference Manual, http://oer.educ.cam.ac.uk/wiki/RECOUP, Cambridge: RECOUP (Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty, http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. (original page)