1. Ethical Issues in Linguistic Fieldwork Yuni Kim University of Manchester yuni.kim@manchester.ac.uk

2. Ethical review ➲ Linguistic field research typically requires ethical approval ➲ Proposals must be submitted to university committees before any research starts ➲ “Protection of human subjects” ➲ What ethical problems do you need to address in your statement – that is, in planning your research?

3. Why me? Why my project? ➲ Some research clearly needs human subjects review: testing novel medicines; inducing distress in psychological studies ➲ Phonetics: tracheal punctures ➲ Linguistic fieldwork? Talking to people? ➲ Ethical issues do require careful thought... ➲ … even more so because fieldwork IS different, and standard protocols are not always appropriate

4. Some basic principles ➲ Don’t do anything against someone’s will ➲ Don’t inconvenience people or do things that will make them regret working with you ➲ Reciprocity ➲ Do be sensitive to local culture and community dynamics, and your place in it ➲ Be respectful and keep an open mind ➲ Concrete ways of following these principles may be highly situation-specific

5. The Planning Stage Deciding what language or language variety to work on Motivations: general-linguistic, cultural, specific-linguistic... adventure... Will you and your work be welcome? Are your goals ethically feasible? Essential to make preliminary contacts and feel out the situation; avoid pressuring Cf. colonialist/imperialist paradigm

6. Permission to Research A privilege, not a right Will you need official consent from community leaders (e.g. chief, elders)? How do you build trust – a prerequisite? Sincerity necessary, but usually not sufficient Intermediate contacts who are already known and trusted in the community Invest time building relationships with people Effects of power asymmetries

7. Informed Consent ➲ When you find people willing to work with you, you must obtain informed consent ➲ Advance understanding of what you are doing, and what they will be asked to do ➲ Be specific ➲ Freedom to withdraw at any time ➲ Overt agreement to participate ➲ Must be documented

8. Written vs. Oral Consent Ethical review committees often want to see a signed, contract-like document Not appropriate to many field situations What if people don’t read and write? Can create rather than relieve suspicion - “signing away rights” Oral agreements may be held in higher esteem Reading a prepared statement?

9. Obtaining Oral Consent Better: have a natural conversation where you explain everything, ask for permission This is an important conversation to have – it’s not just for the committee You need to judge the success of the communication, their ability to give consent You can have natural conversations first, then ask to record a less natural version

10. Anonymity Generic “human subjects” protocols require you to guarantee anonymity Not always appropriate for fieldwork People may want to be acknowledged; you may want to acknowledge them Alternatively, there may be cultural or personal reasons not to use names You need to find out what they want

11. Making Recordings ➲ Always need informed consent to record ➲ Why would anyone do covert recording? People get unnatural when the mike’s out Spontaneous events – no time to stop and ask You don’t know if they’d give permission, but it’s reeeaaally good/valuable material ➲ These reasons generally don’t fly ➲ Use a less obtrusive microphone... be patient and continue to develop trust

12. Making Recordings ➲ Unforeseen sensitive topics can come up ➲ Participants should be able to stop recording at any time, or ask to delete material after it’s been recorded ➲ Passers-by: unintentional covert recording ➲ In such cases, it may be acceptable to get post-hoc consent, as soon as possible

13. Access to Recordings ➲ What happens to the recordings? ➲ Who will be able to listen to them? Just you? Local people? Anyone at all? ➲ Archiving Public vs. restricted access Restrictions by type of material ➲ Try to foresee every possible future use or audience and find out how the person feels ➲ Later, it may be impossible to get permission

14. Compensation How do you compensate people for the time and expertise they share with you? Monetary payment is common By the hour/session/etc. Presentation style matters Pay well, but not so much that it creates the potential for coercion When working with different people, keep “fairness” in mind

15. Non-monetary compensation Some people may not want to accept money Other ways to compensate people Buying food, medicine Doing housework or running errands Find out how you can be useful You may want to do this even if you are also paying them

16. Wider Considerations To what extent do ethics dictate the content of your research? What ethical obligations do you have to the community – linguistic, sociopolitical? General behavior: humility rarely regretted Unforeseen issues: developing judgment Balancing the desire to share expertise with caution about imposing ideologies

17. Thank you!