Ethical Issues in Qualitative ResearchSusan Price-Cole, Susan Cobb, Brooke Adkins and Elizabeth

M. Allen

Ethical pitfalls• The research process creates tension between the aims of

research to make generalizations for the good of others, and the rights of participants to maintain privacy (Orb et al., 2001).

• Ethical principles: autonomy, beneficence, justice

What is Informed Consent?● The requirement of written consent by IRBs is used to

ensure ethical practices throughout research that involves human participants.

● Detailed information in written form about: o the purpose, duration, and methods o the risks and benefits o guarantees of confidentiality and participant’s choice

to withdraw

(Marzano, 2012)

Issues with Obtaining Informed Consent: The Other Side to Consider

Some Limitations on Participation

o Listing possible harms that might result from disclosure (Singer & Couper, 2010).

o Negotiation with leaders is not always easy (Marzano, 2012).

o The participants’ understanding of the research may be limited.

Rejections of Qualitative Studies

• The methods and approaches that are involved in qualitative studies are not respected by all of the members of a review board. o Research on certain social groups is considered as a risk

to the participants o Results in an exclusion of certain groups from research

studies

Other Ethical Concerns with Obtaining Informed Consent

o Accuracy of informed consent matching long-term research practices (Glesne, 2011; Marzano, 2012; Hemmings, 2009)

o Participants may not fully understand the form (Marzano, 2012)

o Participation to please the doctor (Marzano, 2012)

Ethics of Participatory Action Research

• PAR results in practical change or benefit to participants.o Respect for personso Non-Maleficenceo Beneficence*o Justice

• Principle of care and concern (Hemmings, 2009)

Consent and Cultural Sensitivity

University Research Ethics Boards versus the needs of qualitative researchers and their participants (Freeman et al., 2007; Glesne, 2011; Tilley & Gormley, 2007)

Dimensions of Anonymity in the 21st Century

● Ethics Board demands of research● Funder demands● Participant demands● Researcher demands

(Tilley & Woodthorpe, 2011)● Potential problems may result from publication of the

results (Marzano, 2012) The anonymity of participants

Confidentiality Oppresses the Oppressed

● Confidentiality - Provides privacy to individuals (it is their right) and protects vulnerable populations from harm (medical field)

● Qualitative research is often done with the goal of being transformative, however, ○ confidentiality is often oppressive rather than

transformative for those being oppressed.(Baez, 2002, p. 46)

Confidentiality Oppresses the Oppressed

“Qualitative researcher’s goal is to fight for social justice and the transformation of society by identifying the injustice inflicted on people, confidentiality can then act as a barrier”

“Transformative research … must expose and resist oppression, which is often hidden. To do so, requires openness and risk-taking, which are undermined by secrecy” (Baez, 2002, p. 46)

Ethical dilemma #1You are a quantitative/mixed methods researcher conducting a teacher action research project to test a

math intervention that you created. You choose a sample of convenience, recruiting 2nd grade teachers from your own school, your church, and the “urban” district where you teach, as well as teachers from several upper middle class suburban schools, including your child’s teacher and the wife of a friend. You intend to compare the students’ performance in the urban and suburban schools. All teacher participants administer a pretest of 42 simple addition problems to their students, and results are analyzed for completion time and computation accuracy. Very similar patterns in completion time surfaced for the urban teachers. Class averages for the urban students’ completion times (7 minutes) were nearly three times higher than they were for the suburban classes (22 minutes). Suburban students had a median computational accuracy of 95%, while the urban students had a median accuracy of 56%. While the overall computational accuracy of the urban students was 56%, there was great variation in the individual classroom performances, with two urban classrooms having median percentages of correct answers close to 20%, and the other two urban classes having completion accuracies near 80% or 90%.

Should the researcher reveal the students’ performances to the teachers, principals, and other stakeholders? Why or why not?

When presenting the results at conferences, should he report the discrepant computational accuracies?

Ethical dilemma #2It is late April and you have spent most of the year in Mrs. Fielding’s 1st grade classroom, helping out, observing, and talking informally as well as doing formal interviews with the teacher and students. You and Mrs. Fielding collaborated to design and teach a language arts unit with dual goals of helping students become more intentional and metacognitive about improving their own reading skills, and better understanding how Mrs. Fielding’s teaching has affected her students’ development of dispositions, conceptions, and skills in reading. She has become increasingly interested in this topic over the year, and has expressed interest in co-authoring an article with you on your findings over the summer.

Test results and observations show that Mrs. Fielding’s teaching strategies have benefitted most of the students in her class, but not for one particular student, “Lori,” who is shy, anxious, and needs a good deal of reassurance that she is doing things “right.” Your field notes show that Mrs. Fielding is lately losing patience with Lori, feeling that she is too clingy and demanding of her time, which can slow the pace of the class. But the more impatient and irritable she gets with Lori, the worse Lori seems to do. Recent;y, Lori has become a sort of scapegoat in the classroom, with other students calling her “slow” and “stupid” and a “crybaby,” and, uncharacteristically, the teacher has done little to stop them. Lori has shared her unhappiness with you in several interviews, under the promise of confidentiality. Mrs. Fielding has also shared her misgivings about Lori and her recent decision to retain her in 1st grade for another year, even though her parents oppose the idea. Mrs. Fielding acknowledges that Lori tests academically at grade level, but feels that she is too immature to excel in 2nd grade. You, too, have seen this immaturity, but have also come to know Lori as a competent reader and a bright, even witty, conversationalist in private interviews. There is no way Lori needs to repeat 1st grade.

Ethical dilemma #2 cont’d• If Mrs. Fielding and you write something together, how can you give her legitimate

authorial credit without risking the identification of participants, esp. students?

• Should you share Lori’s unhappiness with Mrs. Fielding, given your promise of confidentiality to Lori?

• Should you share with Mrs. Fielding your own observations and conclusion that the main source of Lori’s problem is Mrs. Fielding’s increasingly open irritation with her, which has been modeled and exaggerated by the students?

• If the teacher decides to retain Lori, do you have an obligation to share your conclusions with the principal, or even Lori’s parents?

• How can you eventually write about what you have seen without shaming Mrs. Fielding, with whom you have developed a relationship of trust, openness, and mutual respect?

Ethical dilemma #3You went to conduct participant-observation ethnographic research at a Mexican garment firm to

study the participatory work arrangements in teams. Although you gained permission from the managers and the members of the two teams that you worked with at the beginning of your study, you realized that there were power struggles between the managers and the workers (subordinates) which grew throughout the course of your study. These power struggles made you wonder if the participants on the two teams actually had a choice in signing the consent forms or not. You also realized that more could be learned if you could blend in with the social setting so that the workers in the garment firm who did not originally work with you at the onset of the study would trust you more. Management is encouraging you to study certain shifts and are very interested in your results. You have now found out that the workers have gone on strike against management, and you want to learn more about their feelings and reactions while the strike is taking place. However, you have concerns that your participation in the study was losing ethical grounding because not all of the workers involved in the strike knew who you were or why you were there. Management has encouraged you to go in hopes that you will be their “spy” and come back to them with some useful information about what the workers are saying and planning.

Ethical dilemma #3 cont’d• Do you have a right to be there on strike with the workers? Is this an ethical action? Explain.

• Should you elicit consent from all of the workers before asking for their viewpoints? Explain why or why not.

• Have you remained loyal to the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice by going through an “organizational gatekeeper”? Explain why or why not.

• Do you have the responsibility of communicating any shifts in your research focus? Would it also be ethical?

• What does voluntary informed consent mean when an informant cannot withdraw because they do not know they are being studied?

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