E: Ethics and research sensitivity Flashcards
Why does ethics matter?
Qualitative researchers interact with their participants, this makes it much more important to protect them and their privacy compared to quantitative
Qualitative research produces a great deal of contextual information → insights into companies environment, relationships between managers and coworkers. Is sensitive but could also accidentally hint at who the participant is
Our analyses can impact people’s lives → companies mat make new policies or get rid of colleagues based on the conclusions of your research. Risks also exist is your participants give their honest opinions and put their reputation on the line
Procedural ethics
The formal invokes the process of applying and getting approval of an ethics committee before starting the study
Requires the researcher to reflect on the proposed methodology and evaluate possible risks that could harm participants before starting the research
Practical ethics
Day to day experiences of conducting research
You need to reflect on your decisions that you make and how they affect others
It is a way researchers identify and respond to unforeseen events during their research
9 important ethics principles
Do no harm
Privacy and anonymity
Confidentiality
Informed consent
Rapport and friendship
Intrusiveness
Inappropriate behavior
Data interpretation
Data ownership and rewards
Ethics principles: do no harm
Your study should not hurt anyone physically or psychologically
If your study seems to be hurting anyone, stop the study, even if this is problematic for your research design
Ethics principles: privacy and anonymity
How will you conceal the identity of the individuals and organizations you study
Consider how to anonymize descriptions, images, and sketches: use pseudonyms
Use caution in publishing long verbatim quotes, seek permission from participant is you wish to make public information that might reveal identities
Ethics principles: confidentiality
Your participants are entitled to expect that information they provide in your research will not be passed on to anyone else
When discussing research data with you research team, do so with sensitivity (respect)
It is your responsibility to keep the information you learn confidential, do not reveal details of one interviewee to another
Ethics principles: informed consent
Individuals should be informed of the nature of the study and may choose whether or not to participate
There may be pressure placed on individuals by peers or superiors, they should not be forced to participate
Consider the capacity of vulnerable groups to give informed consent
Inform participants about the nature of your study, allow them to withdraw
Ethics principles: rapport and friendship
Once participants agree to be part of a study, develop rapport in order to get them to disclose inform: issues with “faking friendship”
Provide a trustworthy environment
Be sensitive to the power you you hold over participants
Avoid the participants feeling like they are friends with the researcher
Ethics principles: intrusiveness
Your study should not be intrusive for you participants; on their time, space, and lives
Make a reasonable estimate of the amount of time participation will take
Do not go to their homes, find a neutral location
Be sensitive to your research participants’ reactions and try to do what makes them comfortable
Ethics principles: inappropriate behavior
Do not engage in conduct of a personal or sexual nature
Do not get too close and blur boundaries between themselves and others
If you think you are getting too close, keep distance, remember your code of conduct
Ethics principles: data interpretation
A researcher is expected to analyze data in a manner that avoids misstatements, misinterpretations or fraudulent analysis
Use you data to represent daily what you see and hear
Avoid the potential pitfalls of over interpreting or misinterpreting the data you collect present a picture not supported by data and evidence
Present evidence for others to decide to what extend your interpretation is believable
Ethics principles:data ownership and rewards
Normally the researcher owns the work generated, may be different if you sign agreements with companies that fund the research
Sometimes participants are the financial rewards of publishing
Rarely do studies turn into bestsellers, but if yours does, you can share the benefits with others
Shadowing
An observational technique that allows you to follow someone around for a day
Ethical considerations and things to do for shadowing
Get an overview of their routine ahead of time
Know what you are allowed to bring
Dress in accordance
Follow the rules of the setting
Ethical considerations → do you listen on their private calls
Different type of researchers involvement in online research
Passive: using existing types of researchers involvement
Active: participation by the researcher is done in the online community
Traditional: data is generated through interviews or focus groups conducted online
Hybrid: a little bit of each of the other 3
Ethics in online research
Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality
Informed consent
Rapport and friendship
Preserving anonymity & pseudonymity
Lurking
Observing without participating on social media, websites, forums
Has a negative connotation because you do not get:
Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality
Informed consent
Rapport and friendship
Preserving anonymity & pseudonymity
Ethics in online research: Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality
Using quotes from public websites means the words are searchable, so even if you change the name, you can easily retrieve the original source
Just because it is said a public forum, does not mean the participant wants to see the forum as a public space
Ethics in online research: informed consent
Have you revealed your presence and research purpose?
Can users/members of the online community really decide to opt-out of the research?
How do you deal with new members who join?
Ethics in online research: rapport and friendship
You may already be part of the community or act so, leading people to share more private information, is this ethical?
Ethics in online research: preserving anonymity & pseudonymity
Do not identify the name of the online community or the website address
Provide pseudonyms and make minor changes to quotes to prevent them does being searchable
Anonymize and paraphrase quotations, use aggregated quotations or composite accounts that represent the meaning expressed in multiple quotations without directly quoting
Check whether you cannot trace it back by using search engines
Tips to ensure you are ethical when looking at interviews and transcripts
Always ask permission before recording and explain what the purpose of the recording is
De-identify your transcripts
Paraphrase quotes that may easily link back t a person
Only use pseudonyms with quotes from interviews
Once the interviews are transcribed, de-identify the transcript
Tips to ensure you are ethical when looking at data & promises
Think about where and for how long you’re storing your data
Keep you promises (ex. Delete recording)
Don’t pressure friend to take part in your study, maintain confidentiality
