"'A fully ethical study would mean that all ethical issues are fully resolved.' To what

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TMA 02

Option 2

“‘A fully ethical study would mean that all ethical issues are fully resolved.’ To what

extent do you think this is possible when conducting research with children and young

people? Illustrate your answer with reference to Units 5-9.”

Ethics are very much a part of everyday life, with us all having a certain set of morals

and values we live by. It therefore makes sense that ethics should play a major part

in any research, be it with adults or children. This ensures that the utmost care and

consideration is taken regards those involved. However, when it comes to children

and young people, the researcher has to further consider the fact that those whom they

are researching, may not be fully aware of the implications, and the effect that

research may have. Of course, as each person is different in what they interpret as

‘ethical’, we can expect to encounter differing attitudes and methods being used, but

as society as a whole becomes more responsible, and research findings become more

and more accessible to the masses,  it is important to ensure that as many ethical

issues as possible are resolved.

As the course progresses, I find myself becoming increasingly aware of the sheer

volume of research appears in the press, and is, therefore, being undertaken every day.

In a recent Channel five documentary, ‘Extraordinary People’, in an episode

entitled ‘The girls with too much skin’, we were fortunate enough to meet two sets of

siblings suffering from an extreme skin disease known as ‘Harlequin Ichthyosis’.

These remarkable children, all of differing ages, were all equipped with full

knowledge of their condition and its implications.. However, recent research

involving the girls had led to a breakthrough in tracing the faulty gene responsible.

This news meant that a treatment could possible soon become available. The parents,

medical team and the girls were all fully involved in the decision process regards

taking part in the research, and with the possibility of further studies to be undertaken,

all freely discussed any concerns they may have. Here was a situation where all

ethical issues appeared to be have been resolved, with the girls ultimately taking on

the decision regards their own lives. However, when the parents and medical team

were interviewed as separate entities, both parties expressed concerns as to whether it

was right to have children taking on such a role, and whether they could be deemed as

being  truly aware of the consequences. Was it right for them to take part at all and

could it be giving them false hopes? As well as this being a great example of power

relations at play, it also highlights the complexity of trying to resolve all ethical

issues.

Unit 6 of the Study Guide sets out a framework for research ethics, taken from the

book ‘Listening to Children: Ethics and Social Research’ by Alderson et al. By

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looking at these frameworks and how some research we have studied may fit into this,

will we be able to surmise that a fully ethical study would mean that all ethical issues

are fully resolved?

A Duty-based framework emphasises the equal rights and importance of every person

involved in research.. Regards research with children and young people, their rights

are of equal importance as that of adults. The researcher has a moral ‘duty’ towards

the participants and shows respect, sensitivity and fairness wherever possible.

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