Access and Research Ethics

1. Access and Research Ethics Research Methods Values and Social Research Negotiating Access Ethical Aspects to Research Colin Clarke-Hill and Ismo Kuhanen Getting Started Next

2. Values and Social Research • Value Judgements in research can be seen as : • Positive • Normative • Positive: statements about what is, was or will be, they assert alleged facts about the universe in which we live. • Normative: statements about what ought to be. They depend on judgements of what is good or bad and are bound up with our view of the world and our philosophical and cultural positions we hold.

3. Values in Management Research • Much of management research is based on value judgements even though we often use positivism as our base lines. • We use words like: better, worse etc. to describe phenomena. These can be ambiguous. We often need to precisely define what we mean. • Values can lead to bias in management research as we often have agendas that we wish to address

4. Values in the Research Process • Interests leading to the research • Aims and Objectives of the Research • Design of the Research • The Data Collection Methodology • Interpretation of the Data • The use made of the research findings

5. Access • Negotiating Access - a key element in any research project • access to respondents - depth interviews, questionnaire respondents • access to data - company, industry etc. • Care in this process • Protecting your sources, if necessary

6. Confidentiality - public access • Source confidentiality, where appropriate must be protected • Quotations from respondents must be used circumspectly • Confidentiality and Research Ethics are linked • Always clear usage and possible attribution where necessary

7. Research Ethics Principles and Procedures Colin Clarke-Hill and Ismo Kuhanen Getting Started Next

8. Ethics in Research an Overview • Use your common sense • Confidentiality - where appropriate • Honesty in data collection and in reporting findings • Honesty in manipulating data • Write up as you see it

9. Principles • The primary responsibility for the conduct of ethical research lies with the researcher • Professional codes of conduct usually occupy a default position of primacy. Examples: • The Market Research Society • The NHS Trust Rules

10. General Responsibilities of the Researcher • Towards research participants • Towards other researchers • Professional reputation • Honesty

11. Informed Consent 1 • Free and informed consent ‘as far as it is possible’. Covert methods may be acceptable in some circumstances • Informed - explain the research as fully as reasonably possible and appropriate to the subjects

12. Informed Consent 2 • Power imbalance and the right of the subject to refuse consent • Explain the limits of confidentiality and anonymity • The limits of shared and secondary data

13. Informed Consent 3 • External gatekeepers - relations after the research • Consent by proxy - children and other vulnerable groups

14. Deceptive and Covert Research • Continuum of covert - overt research. The default position is to avoid deception, particularly in public places. Issue here is when is covert research regarded as benign ? • Deceptive research requires RESC (Research Ethics Sub Committee) • Where approval is granted the key is the importance of anonymity, and post hoc consent to be sought.

15. Confidentiality and Anonymity • Anonymity and privacy is to be respected - Data Protection Act • Confidentiality also applies to data storage • Acknowledge the limitations of confidentiality and anonymity

16. Procedures for Approval • Specific approval must be sought for: • Research which involves biomedical or clinical intervention • Deceptive research • Certain classes of covert research - non protected anonymity, or sensitive data, or vulnerable populations

17. Business Ethics • International Business Ethics – Philosophical, Theoretical and Cultural Foundations • MBA Business Ethics

18. Useful Research Ethics Web Sites • http://bubl.ac.uk/Link/r/researchethics.htm • http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportunities/research_ethics_framework/ • http://www.york.ac.uk/res/ref/kb.htm