This site is for the version of the module that will run 26th - 31st October 2015. The sites for the other runs of the module are still accessible here.

Session 13: Saturday 31st October 10:30-12:30    

Research Ethics

This session will be led by Dr Natasha Whiteman of Leicester University

Session Content

1. Ethical considerations in educational research.
2. Implications for your dissertation/report.
3. Module evaluation.

Preliminary Reading

BROTSKY, S.R. & GILES, D. (2007). Inside the “Pro-ana” Community: A covert online participant observation. Eating Disorders: The journal of treatment and prevention. 15(2). 93-109. DOI: 10.1080/10640260701190600 [Review Article]

Further Reading

ALDERSON, P. (2011). The Ethics of Research with Children and Young People: A Practical Handbook. London. Sage.

BERA. (2011). Revised Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research. Retrieved from www.bera.ac.uk/files/2011/08/BERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011.pdf

BPS. (2009). Code of Ethics and Conduct: guidance published by the ethics committee of the British Psychological Society. Leicester. BPS.
         Retrieved from www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/code_of_ethics_and_conduct.pdf

BSA (2002) Statement of Ethical Practice. Retrieved from http://www.britsoc.co.uk/media/27107/StatementofEthicalPractice.pdf

DOWLING, P.C. & BROWN, A.J. (2010). Doing Research/Reading Research: re-interrogating education. Second Edition. London. Routledge. c. 4

HARCOURT, D. (2011). Researching Young Children’s Perspectives: Debating the Ethics and Dilemmas of Educational Research with Children. London. Routledge.

THORNE, B. “’You Still Takin’ Notes?’ Fieldwork and Problems of Informed Consent” Social Problems, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 284-297.

MORROW, V. (2009). The Ethics of Social Research with Children and Families in Young Lives: Practical Experiences. Oxford. Young Lives.

PAECHTER, C. (2007). Researching Sensitive Issues Online: implications of a hybrid insider/outsider position in a retrospective ethnographic study. Qualitative Research. 13(1). 71-86.

WHITEMAN, N. (2010). ‘Control and contingency: maintaining ethical stances in research.’ International Journal of Internet Research Ethics. 3(12/2010). 6-22.

WHITEMAN, N. (2012). Undoing Ethics: rethinking practice in online research. New York. Springer.

This session will examine ethical issues relating to social science research.  It will explore the key ethical principles that underpin institutional and disciplinary Codes of Ethics, and consider cases that unsettle and challenge these principles. The session will also provide you with an opportunity to reflect on ethical issues relating to your dissertation/report.

The article by Brotsky and Giles presents a study of an online ‘community’ that was conducted by using deception, which is to say, one of the researchers adopted a false persona in order to join and participate in the forums and at no time made it clear that she was conducting research, even at the end of the project. You might compare the approach adopted here with that of Carrie Paechter (2012), who was an existing member of the online community that she subsequently chose to study. She maintained this identity whilst constructing an additional identity as an overt researcher member, keeping the link between her original and researcher identities concealed other than to the site owner. If you opt to review the Brotsky and Giles article for your coursework review, then you should concentrate particularly on the methodological decisions that were taken in particular relation to ethical issues and on the explanations and claims that were offered in support of these.

Ppt

Key Methodological Terms