THE ETHICS OF EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH © LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION AND KEITH MORRISON

STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER Informed consent, access and acceptance The field of ethics and sources of tension Voices of experience Ethical dilemmas Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality Against privacy, confidentiality and anonymity Betrayal and deception Ethics and evaluative research Research and regulation: ethical codes and review boards Sponsored research Responsibilities to the research community

A deontological view of ethics ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS A deontological view of ethics What one has a duty or obligation to undertake. Treating people as ends in themselves rather than as means. A consequentialist view of ethics Concern for the outcomes of actions, e.g. the utilitarian view that ethical behaviour is that which produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS Virtue ethics Situational ethics Pursue what is good simply because it is good and right. Situational ethics What we should do or what is right to do depends on the situation in question

THE COSTS–BENEFITS RATIO Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? Social benefits of research endeavours against the personal costs to the individuals taking part. Failure to do the research may cost society the advantages of the opportunity to improve the human condition. Costs to participants may include affronts to dignity, embarrassment, loss of trust in social relations, loss of autonomy and self-determination, and lowered self-esteem. Benefits to participants may be the satisfaction in making a contribution to science and a greater personal understanding of the area under scrutiny.

REGULATORY CONTEXTS OF RESEARCH Codes of practice, institutional review boards, university ethics committees, legislation, ethical frameworks and guidelines. Codes of ethics are designed to protect: respect for persons, beneficence and justice. Ethical codes of practice are designed to protect the interests of individuals and institutions, to ensure suitably informed consent, and that the proposed research abides by legal requirements and does not violate ethical principles.

RESEARCH AND REGULATION Regulation comes from: Ethical codes (but they can be unhelpful in specific situations); Review panels/committees/boards (but they may have no more expertise or legitimacy than the researcher, their remit is unclear, they may disrespect researcher autonomy, and may lead to the avoidance of sensitive research); Legal requirements; Professional associations.

ETHICAL CODES Principles: Guidelines: All educational research shall be conducted within an ethic of respect for: the person; knowledge; democratic values; the quality of educational research; academic freedom. Guidelines: Responsibilities to participants, including : voluntary informed consent; openness and disclosure; rights to withdraw; children, vulnerable young people and vulnerable adults; incentives; detriment arising from participation in research; privacy; disclosure. Responsibilities to sponsors of research, including methods and publication. Responsibilities to the community of educational researchers, including sections on misconduct and authorship. Responsibilities to educational professionals, policy makers and the general public.

ETHICAL CODES Research participants should take part voluntarily, free from any coercion or undue influence, and their rights, dignity and (when possible) autonomy should be respected and appropriately protected. Research should be worthwhile and provide value that outweighs any risk or harm. Researchers should aim to maximize the benefit of the research and minimize potential risks of harm to participants and researchers. All potential risk of harm should be mitigated by robust precautions. Research staff and participants should be given appropriate information about the purpose, methods and intended uses of the research, what their participation in the research entails and what risks and/or benefits, if any, are involved. Individual research participant and group preferences regarding anonymity should be respected and participant requirements concerning the confidential nature of information and personal data should be respected. Research should be designed, reviewed and undertaken to ensure recognized standards of integrity are met, and quality and transparency are assured. The independence of research should be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality should be explicit.

UNICEF’S ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR RESEARCH INVOLVING CHILDREN Ethics in research involving children is everyone’s responsibility. Respecting the dignity of children is core to ethical research. Research involving children must be just and equitable. Ethical research benefits children. Children should never be harmed by their participation in research. Research must always obtain children’s informed and ongoing consent. Ethical research requires ongoing reflection.

CONCERNS ABOUT ETHICS COMMITTEES They are incapable of making sound or ‘superior’ ethical decisions, such that their work will not improve the ethical quality of research. The remit of ethical committees is unclear, e.g. whether to approve, prevent, control methodology or topics. Ethical committees only need to be persuaded that the researcher has the ethical capability to conduct the research, but this confuses ethical audit with ethical decision making and confuses substance and procedures of ethical review. They have no legitimacy or moral superiority/expertise to control researchers, and this is inherent in ethical principles themselves: it is researchers themselves – and not ethics committees – who have the responsibility for the ethical conduct of research; such responsibility cannot and should not be passed to a committee. Ethics committees must apply the principle of ‘informed consent’ to researchers, and not just to those being researched. There is almost no evidence that researchers operate unethically apart from some illegal cases, and so the processes of ethics committees is unnecessary. They lead to undesirable consequences in research: (i) the bureaucratization of research; (ii) research will avoid sensitive, difficult or contested yet important areas and marginalized or powerful groups, i.e. where informed consent may not be possible; (iii) research will avoid important research areas because they may consider it difficult to obtain the consent of the ethics committee.

ETHICS ENTER ALL STAGES OF THE RESEARCH Choice of topic Research design Conduct of research and data collection Data analysis Data interpretation Reporting and dissemination Evaluating the quality of the research

Ethical issues concern . . . Beneficence/ fiduciary trust’ Informed consent Access/acceptance Informing participants of who sees the data/report Rights of withdrawal Rights to privacy Respect vulnerability Human dignity/subjects Avoid unnecessary offence Avoid unnecessary deception Anonymity/non-traceability/confidentiality Non-maleficence Control/ownership of data Overt/covert research Rights to record dissent Permission from all parties

INFORMED CONSENT Explain the study, its purposes, contents, benefits, any dangers or discomforts (and long-term effects). Explain what is involved to the participant. Explain rights, protections and liabilities. Explain rights to voluntary non-participation/partial participation/withdrawal. Explain rights and obligations of confidentiality, anonymity, non-traceability. Answer any questions about the study and the procedures. Obtain informed consent (including, where relevant, permission from parents/guardians and other appropriate parties), where appropriate, in writing. NB Justify not obtaining informed consent (e.g. for covert research).

INFORMED CONSENT Should consent be an individual, family, institutional or communitarian decision? Who gives consent, and for whom, for what and for how long (e.g. longevity of data storage)? What constitutes ‘consent’? Who is competent to give consent, and on whose behalf? Can children override parents’ wishes? What pressure (deliberate or not) on people and institutions is there to give consent? What does ‘voluntary’ really mean in ‘voluntary consent’? In whose interests is consent given or withheld? How is consent given in different cultures? How to protect vulnerable people in giving consent? What degree of informality and formality is appropriate in consent giving?

INFORMED CONSENT What are the possible consequences (and to whom) of consent or non‑consent? How do power differentials affect consent giving? Is biological age of consent ‘good enough’ for giving consent? What are the relationships between consent and confidentiality? How much information is necessary to give or withhold from participants when asking for informed consent (what does ‘fully informed’ mean and require)? Should incentives be offered to gain consent? How can consent be addressed in covert research? What tensions arise in considering consent and action research (where the researcher is the powerful teacher)? Is deception justified? How can consent be given when what happens may not be fully known in advance of the research (e.g. in exploratory research)? How can consent be addressed in online research?

INFORMED CONSENT Informed consent requires an explanation and description of several factors, including: the purposes, contents, procedures, reporting and dissemination of the research; any foreseeable risks and negative outcomes, discomfort or consequences and how they will be handled; benefits that might derive from the research; incentives to participate and rewards from participating; right to voluntary non-participation, withdrawal and rejoining the project; rights and obligations to confidentiality and nondisclosure of the research, participants and outcomes; disclosure of any alternative procedures that may be advantageous; opportunities for participants to ask questions about any aspect of the research; signed contracts for participation (where appropriate).

HONESTY ‘Honesty is the best policy; but he who is governed by that maxim is not an honest man.’ Watley, R. (1953) Apophthegms. In The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2nd edn). London: Oxford University Press.

DECEPTION Telling a lie Telling only part of the truth Not telling the whole story Is deception justified, in the interests of: Public good? Preventing biasing the respondents? Enabling natural behaviour to be observed? Protecting confidentiality of a third party?

Selection and de-selection of particular types of research INFORMED CONSENT INFORMED CONSENT Selection and de-selection of particular types of research De-selection of less controllable, predictable, dangerous topics, e.g. ‘denied knowledge’/power Selection of ‘safe’, controllable, sponsored, orthodox, standardized, anodyne research

THE FIELD OF ETHICS Respect dignity and rights of participants. Attend to the sensitivity of the research. Control and ownership of the data (e.g. during and after the research has ended). Publication rights and duties.

AVOID DOING HARM: PRIMUM NON NOCERE Use computer simulations. Find a situation in which the negative effects of harm already exist, i.e. where the research does not have the responsibility for having produced these conditions. Apply only a very low level of potential harm, or for only a short period of time, so that any effects are minimal. Informed consent (provide details of the potential negative effects and secure participants’ consent). Justify the research on the grounds that the limited harm caused is much less than the harm caused by the existing situation (which the research is trying to improve). Use samples rather than complete populations, so that fewer people are exposed to the harm. Maintain the privacy of participants through the use of aggregated or anonymized data.

REMEMBER THE PARTICIPANTS Data are given, not captured. Thank the participants. Ensure that participants do not leave the research more humiliated, insecure and alienated than when they arrived. Consider the effects on the participants when writing the report and publishing material. Ensure that the researchers have sufficient competence to undertake the research.

CONTROL WHO OWNS THE DATA? AT WHAT POINT DOES OWNERSHIP PASS FROM THE RESPONDENT TO THE RESEARCHER? WHAT RIGHTS DOES OWNERSHIP CONFER? WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONDITIONS DOES OWNERSHIP CONFER?

PRIVACY: A MAJOR ETHICAL TENSION PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO PRIVACY FREE SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRY AND CAREER ADVANCEMENT NON-MALEFICENCE AND BENEFICENCE

SECRECY IS A FACT OF LIFE SECRECY RESPECTS PEOPLE SECRECY IS ESSENTIAL TO GAIN ACCESS TO SENSITIVE GROUPS AND SENSITIVE AREAS OF RESEARCH

SECRECY FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD ‘Behind the screen of formal ethics, timorous social scientists may excuse themselves from the risk of confronting powerful, privileged, and cohesive groups that wish to obscure their actions and interests from public scrutiny.’ Mitchell, R. G. (1993) Secrecy in Fieldwork. London: Sage Publications, p. 54.

DILEMMAS OF PRIVACY What constitutes ‘private’ and ‘public’? What constitutes ‘personal’, and, therefore, private? Surveillance is everywhere. Data are stored without our knowledge. True privacy is a thing of the past. How to maintain anonymity, non-traceability and confidentiality in a surveillance and recording culture? The greater the sensitivity of the information, the stronger must be the safeguards called for to protect the privacy of the participants. How to make this work?

RECIPROCITY How can you give something back to those participants/ communities who helped you in the research? Avoid ‘rape research’: where ‘the researcher gets what they want and then clears off, giving little or nothing in return and maybe even causing damage’ (Lather, 1986). Data are ‘gifts’, not capta. Avoid the situation of participants who help many researchers to become famous and get their doctorates, but leave the participants’ quality of life with no improvement. Some populations are incessantly and minutely interrogated by outside ‘experts’ and left impoverished.

ETHICAL DILEMMAS Involving people without their knowledge or consent. Coercing people to participate. Withholding information about the true nature of the research, or otherwise deceiving participants. Inducing people to commit acts diminishing their self-esteem. Violating rights of self-determination (e.g. in studies seeking to promote individual change). Exposing participants to physical or mental stress. Invading their privacy. Withholding benefits from some participants (e.g. in comparison groups). Not treating participants fairly, or with consideration, or with respect. Breaching trust. How to avoid power and position raising ethical problems?

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN ACTION RESEARCH (Kemmis and McTaggart) Observe protocol and permissions. Involve participants. Negotiate with those affected. Report progress. Obtain explicit authorizations. Negotiate descriptions of people’s work. Negotiate accounts of others’ points of view. Obtain explicit authorization before using quotations. Negotiate reports for various levels of release. Accept responsibility for maintaining confidentiality. Retain the right to report your work. Make your principles of procedure binding and known.

PRIVACY Privacy trumps other concerns in research. Privacy of people and settings. Privacy is a basic human need. The greater the sensitivity of the information, the more safeguards are needed to protect the privacy of participants. Privacy can be voluntarily relinquished by informed consent.

ANONYMITY, NON-TRACEABILITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY Participants, groups, institutions, locations should be non-traceable unless there is a good reasons for this not to happen. Some individuals, groups, institutions will want to be identified; respect this. It should not be possible to reconstruct or reassemble data in order to identify people, groups, institutions, locations, or, where it is possible, it will not be put into the public domain. Researchers can take steps to guarantee that they, too, do not know who respondents are (e.g. double blind experiments, anonymous questionnaires).

ANONYMITY, NON-TRACEABILITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY Ensure in advance that promises of anonymity and confidentiality can actually be kept. Ensure that participants understand anonymity, non-traceability and confidentiality. Justify covert research. Justify dishonesty/telling lies to ensure non-traceability (e.g. ‘putting people off the scent’ of participants). How can ‘thick descriptions’ avoid identifying participants/groups/institutions/locations?

BETRAYAL AND DECEPTION Betrayal and deception are breaches of trust. How to justify them? Betrayal may be breaching privacy and cooperation. Are betrayal and deception undertaken for the sake of the public good? Betrayal may occur if people are portrayed in negative ways. Deception may happen in telling lies, not telling the whole story, concealing the true purposes of the research from participants.

BETRAYAL AND DECEPTION Handling deception: Research in the interests of the public good; Exclude particularly vulnerable participants; Keep necessary deception to a minimum; Be sensitive to danger signals; Provide feedback/debriefing at the end of the research; Find new, alternative ways of conducting the research without deception.

ACCESS AND ACCEPTANCE Access requires formal and informal permission and clearance from relevant parties. Achieving goodwill and cooperation. Sensitive entry to the research location. Be prepared for negotiation of what can/cannot be done. Seek informed consent. Give all participants the chance to remain anonymous. Ensure that all data are given in strict confidentiality. Seek respondent validation. Be prepared to give participants a copy of the final report. Permission for publication may need to be gained from the participants. Where possible, the research report should be of benefit to the school and participants.

ETHICS AND EVALUATIVE RESEARCH Principle of benefit maximization the best decision is the one that results in the greatest benefit for most people. Principle of equal respect Respect the equal worth of all people. Treat people as ends rather than means. Regard them as free and rational. They are entitled to the same basic rights as others.

ETHICS AND EVALUATIVE RESEARCH Due process Privacy Equality Public perspicuity Humaneness Client benefit Academic freedom Respect for autonomy

SPONSORED RESEARCH It may be considered unethical for the sponsor to tell the researcher: how to conduct the research; what results he/she should look for and what findings should be suppressed; what should and should not be reported; to conceal who the sponsor is; what are the purposes of the research.

SPONSORED RESEARCH Sponsors do have the right: to remain confidential; to non-disclosure of who they are; to non-disclosure of the purposes and findings of the research. The researcher must retain the right to conduct the study as she or he thinks fit, informed by, but not decided by, the sponsor.

Protect safety Protect confiden- tiality Protect well-being RESPONSIBILITY TO RESEARCH COLLEAGUES Protect anonymity Protect reputations Keep to agreed procedures Ethical behaviour Do not jeopardize future research

Researcher competence Rigour Integrity of research RESPONSIBILITY TO RESEARCH Report accurately Report clearly Honesty Fairness Don’t jeopardize future research