RESEARCH ETHICS: THOUGHTS

AND REFLECTIONS FOR SOCIAL

SCIENCE RESEARCHERS

Dr. Sarah Quinton, Chair

Oxford Brookes University Research Ethics Committee
sequinton@brookes.ac.uk
OUTLINE OF SESSION

• Principles of ethics in research

• Core aspects:
• Recruitment
• Data
• Safety of participant and researcher
• Security sensitive research/illegal subject research
• Common issues
• Dependency
• Separation of role
• Good practice
• Suggested resources
• Q and A
 Principles of ethics in
research

ESRC principles
• Research should aim to maximise benefit for individuals and society
and minimise risk and harm
• The rights and dignity of individuals and groups should be respected
• Wherever possible, participation should be voluntary and appropriately
informed
• Research should be conducted with integrity and transparency
• Lines of responsibility and accountability should be clearly defined
• Independence of research should be maintained and where conflicts of
interest cannot be avoided they should be made explicit.

Source: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding/guidance-for-applicants/research-ethics/our-core-
principles/
 Implications of the ESRC
principles

• All staff & students are required to consider the

ethical implications of the research they conduct
with human participants
• Researchers should ensure the dignity, rights,
safety and well-being of participants are given
primary consideration
• It is a University requirement for staff /research
students to follow the research ethics review
procedures
Different ethics reviews procedures
depending on subject

NHS Research Ethics Committees (NRES)

– Research involving patients / social care users or their
relatives / carers, recruited through the NHS
– Research with human tissue, blood, bodies, body parts
– Takes longer to obtain, plan for this
 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD RESEARCH
ETHICS

FREE FROM COERCION: Participants should be free

from coercion of any kind and should not be
pressured to participate in a study, participation
should be voluntary
• Is there an implicit pressure from management
for employees to participate in my research?
How can this be mitigated?
• Are participants my clients? How can I
demonstrate that I have separated my research
from my work?
• Are participants dependent in any other way?
Really?
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD RESEARCH
ETHICS

CONSENT: Where 3rd parties are affected by the

research, consent should be obtained
 Am I intending to carry out my research through
a company or organisation?
 Do I need permission to carry out my research
here? Gatekeeper letters may be required to be
included with the ethics application.
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD RESEARCH
ETHICS

HONESTY: Honesty should be central to the

relationship between researcher, participant and
institutional representatives and also funder
 Is all relevant information given on my participant
information sheet?
 Could I be accused of deception?
 Is the participant information sheet understandable
and free from jargon
 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD
RESEARCH ETHICS

Transparency: The requirement to be open in

your research to all stakeholders

• Is it clear to a layperson; who is responsible for the

research? which organisation may be funding the research,
and or to whom questions or concerns should be directed?
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD
RESEARCH ETHICS

USE OF THIRD PARTIES: The use of those

with specialist skills
• Are you using any third parties to collect or
analyse data, such as transcribers?

If so you are likely to need a confidentiality

agreement
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD RESEARCH
ETHICS
CONFIDENTIALITY AND ANONYMITY: Participants’
confidentiality and anonymity should be
maintained
• How do I practice my duty of confidentiality?
• What measures can I take to protect anonymity?
(use of pseudonyms? Codes?)
• If anonymity cannot be assured have I informed
the participants?
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD RESEARCH
ETHICS

COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF DATA: The

collection and storage of data must be secure
 Are my files/computer password protected?
 How can security be assured in the ‘field’?
DISSEMINATION: Researchers have a duty to
disseminate their research findings to all
appropriate parties
– …a summary of findings, available on email request,
would suffice.
 Core aspects of research
ethics

Recruitment of participants/respondents
• recruitment platforms
• Issues with Mturk or equivalent

• What is their core ethos, university based or

commercial?
Informed consent
• Opt in – vs. opt out
 Core aspects of research
ethics

Data
• collection
• storage
• ownership
• deletion/destroy
• digital footprints
 Core aspects of research
ethics

Safety and wellbeing of participant

• Distress management planning
• Location of research
• Gender, faith

Safety and wellbeing of researcher

• Lone researcher protocol
• Debriefing options
 Core aspects of research
ethics

Research involving security sensitive data

• University specific guidelines in accordance with aspects of
the Prevent agenda
• Awareness of flagging of researchers and those associated
with researcher

Research involving illegal subject matter data

• Safety of participants and researcher
• Data management
 Core aspects of research
ethics in relation to
secondary data

Consider
• public vs, private data
• ownership of data, including images
• validity and reliability of data
• attribution of the data
 Common Issues

Informed consent not always necessary

• observations
• some social media research

• Research involving children or vulnerable

groups and who to get consent
from
PROBLEMATIC
AREAS
DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS
•Student/teacher, colleague/employee

SEPARARTION OF ROLE
•Researcher/employee, researcher/coach,
researcher/consultant

OVERSEAS / OFF-SITE RESEARCHER SAFETY

PARTICIPANT FREEDOM
•Consider whether there are any repercussions to the individual
from participating/not participating?
PROBLEM AREAS IN
THE PAPERWORK
DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH
•Think about your participants when writing the P I
Sheet: is it understandable for age, literacy level,
education level, culture, profession etc?

PI SHEET AND CONSENT FORMS

•Match with checklists of institution
•The ‘public face’ of your university
 Emerging problem areas

Images – still or moving

• photo elicitation as a prompt tool in
research
• inclusion of images made of participants
• inclusion of images made by participants
• attribution of images used

• consider Vlog material, Youtube etc

 Suggestions for good
practice

• Involve specialist experts if necessary, seek

advice, especially with interdisciplinary
research
• Look at previous projects for insight
• Be mindful of local ‘norms’
• Look to external guidelines for assistance
 Suggestions for good
practice

• If a multi tiered research project or when results

of one part feed into the design of the next –
staged consent forms
• Dissemination of results to all stakeholders in
different formats, e.g summary reports,
workshops in organisations , research log etc
• Involvement of participants in research design,
co-creation of research – where practical
 Suggested Resources

• The Association of Internet Research, helpful code of ethics for

research, http://aoir.org/reports/ethics2.pdf
• ERIC – Ethical research involving children http://childethics.com/
• The Research Ethics Guidebook for Social Scientists
http://www.ethicsguidebook.ac.uk/
• The British Psychological Society, ethics guidance
http://www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/bps/ethics-standards/ethics-
standards
• British Academy of Management – training and events for researchers
including ethics https://www.bam.ac.uk/training-and-events
• European Network of Research Ethics Committees – (EUREC),very
detailed trans-border information etc
http://www.eurecnet.org/index.html
Thank you