Why is it important that ethical issues are considered when a research study is being planned? Illustrate your answer with references to the research papers by Punch and Thorne
Why is it important that ethical issues are considered when a research study is being planned? Illustrate your answer with references to the research papers by Punch and Thorne
Ethical issues in research began to be considered in the late 1940s when, following Nazi research, people became sensitive to research being more than about care. The Nuremberg Code of 1947 insisted that willing consent be sought by participants in order to carry out research. At the time children were not considered mature enough to consent and were not permitted to take part in any research they were not able to gain from. Many research projects must be approved by an ethics committee, but this is the not the case for all types of research. Medical and health related research is first approved by an ethics committee as it is accepted that medical research can be hazardous; for example, the introduction of a new drug. Whilst it could be argued that educational or social science research does not have the risks associated with it as some medical research, if the research process is flawed the outcomes could provide inaccurate information resulting in changes being implemented that do not offer benefits, or even put recipients at a disadvantage. It is also important to note that, unlike aspects such as data protection, there is often no legal obligation on researchers, or redress for the researched, relating to ethical issues. That is, a piece of research could be viewed as unethical, but not illegal, as ethics is defined as moral duty not to cause harm. Therefore it is important that ethical issues are considered when planning research, particularly in relation to children as they often have little power, and ethical issues can occur at any stage of a research project. Researchers have a duty to build up and refine ethical honesty. Alderson (2004) states that there are three main ethical frameworks. The first relates to respect and justice and that children must always be respected in their own right. The second is a rights based framework and includes the ‘3 P’s’ of ensuring that children are provided for, protected and have the right to participation. The third is a best outcomes framework, which means that research must determine how any possible harm to children is eliminated or reduced and that potential benefits outweigh any harm. As previously stated, not all research is approved by an ethics committee, but even when it is, it is still important to continually consider ethical issues that may arise during the research, or any ethical issues that may not be covered by the particular research committee, so that they can be evaluated against possible damage or gain, and that they are dealt with truthfully, justly and respectfully. In any research project the ethical issues can be numerous and the research team will need to take appropriate ethical decisions. In this essay I shall be exploring some of the ethical issues that researchers consider when planning their research. These are informed consent, power, confidentiality and gender, using examples from two pieces of ethnographic research by Punch (2001) and Thorne (1993).
Informed consent relates to gaining the willing consent of participants in the research process and ensuring they have sufficient information in order to decide whether to participate or not. Ethics committees state that the reason for the research should be clearly explained, the main questions to be addressed, who and how people will benefit from the research, along with any risks or issues, and what tasks will be undertaken. The participants need to understand that they do not have to participate in the research, or if they do, they can decide to stop at any point. In the case of children, it is not always clear-cut how to achieve informed consent. In order to involve children in research, the researcher needs to gain access to children and this is normally through other adults. Parents may be unhappy for their children to be involved whilst the children may want to participate and vice versa. It can be difficult to gain informed consent of children in research which involves families and in school settings. Often, in the case of schools, consent is granted via the head teacher and not with the children themselves. This highlights an area, which can be difficult to resolve. If consent is to be sought from all children in a class of, say 30 children. If one objects there is then an issue of how that child should then be treated. Either the research cannot go ahead or the child’s education is affected if they are excluded from the class. In the case of Punch’s research she lived with two families with children whom she was invited to stay with and she observed children in these settings and in the school setting. In order to carry out her research in school she gained the consent of the teacher. In both the family and school setting consent did not come from the children. Similarly, Thorne also gained access to the children she observed via the school. In both cases the reason for the research was not explained to the children, nor were they given any opportunity to refuse to take part. In these cases informed consent was not sought from the children. Both researchers relied on building up a relationship of trust with the children in order to obtain their information, with did mean that the children had some control over how much they contributed. Advantages of informed consent are that the results are likely to be more accurate because the participants are aware of the purpose of the research and they have some control over the process, knowing they can opt out at any time. If they are willing and active participants, they are also likely to enjoy taking part in the research. However, the children could disclose things, which they later regret. Additionally, adults wield the final power in how the children are portrayed in the research findings and report.
