Lecture 2: Research Ethics and Qualitative Data Collection

research ethics

-moral guiding principles, considering the benefits/risks of doing research

-benefits of research must outweigh the risks/harm

BPS Code of Human Research Ethics

-guidelines are necessary to clarify the conditions under which psychological research can take place

-no code can replace the need for psychologists to use their professional and ethical judgment

key principles (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

• respect, autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals, groups and communities

• scientific integrity

• social responsibility

• maximise benefit, minimise harm

respect, autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals, groups and communities (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

• consent

• confidentiality

• anonymity

• fair treatment → avoiding prejudice and discrimination

scientific integrity (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

• high quality → well-designed, rigorous

• develop knowledge 

• effective use of resources and participant’s time

social responsibility (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

• collaborative and reflective

• considered interpretation of findings

• research can have societal implications and consequence

maximise benefit, minimise harm (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

• avoid physical/psychological risks

• developing risk assessments

• sensitivity

• benefits need to outweigh the costs of research

further specific guidance (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

-risk

-consent

-confidentiality

-giving advice → limits on advice researchers can give e.g., clinical research and offering mental health support

-debriefing

-ethics review process

deception (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

-concealing some part of the true nature of the research

-participants should be properly debriefed at the end of the study to reveal the true aims of the research, giving them option to withdraw at this point too

unequal relationships (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

-coercion/obligation

-participants made aware they do not have to take part

NHS/social care settings (BPS Code of Human Research Ethics)

-research conducted within NHS needs approval from University ethics board and also from NHS

ethical review 

-for any piece of research being done, researchers must apply for ethical approval before collecting any primary data 

-procedures for conducting research are reviewed by ethics committees

-trained academics review the application 

-any concerns are identified and feedback is provided to researchers 

-researchers revise their application if necessary and re-submit 

ethics in qualitative research

-same principles apply, but often require further consideration 

informed consent (ethics in qualitative research)

-participants need to be aware of the research area

-however, can never fully know what will come up in interviews

debriefing (ethics in qualitative research)

-important that intended/unintended consequences are monitored

-usually done at the end of a study, ensuring they are not distressed

-direct to further sources of support → tailored and accessible

right to withdraw (ethics in qualitative research)

-during and after the research process

-free to pause, terminate and contact researcher after the study has taken place

confidentiality (ethics in qualitative research)

• keeping discussions private 

anonymity (ethics in qualitative research)

• concealing participants identity

issues with confidentiality and anonymity in qualitative research

-the primary researcher will always know who the participant is if they are meeting them to speak to them

• identity is never truly anonymous in face-to-face interviews

-changing names/disguising locations is one step to mitigate this

-making people aware of limits to anonymity and confidentiality

limited confidentiality (ethics in qualitative research)

-in certain circumstances

-duty of care to participants and wider society, so if participants disclose something to show they are a risk to themselves or others, this information may need to be shared outside of the research team 

sensitive qualitative research

-qualitative research may often be of a sensitive nature

-ethics is largely considered in terms of impact on the participant

-consideration for the impact on the researcher is often ad-hoc

-a need for ‘researching the researcher’

Dickson-Swift (sensitive qualitative research)

-semi-structured interviews

-30 Australian public health researchers

-from interviews noted key themes:

• entering the lives of others

• developing rapport

• self disclosure

• reciprocity

• considering transcription

• feeling privileged

• becoming desensitised

• developing attachments

• researcher vulnerability

• guilt

• exhaustion

Dickson-Swift recommendations (sensitive qualitative research)

-researchers, supervisors, and ethics committees should consider strategies in place for the researcher: 

• risk assessments 

• sources of support 

• debriefing 

• mentoring/skill development opportunities 

• rest breaks and spacing interviews 

research misconduct

-dubious research practices: 

• fabrication →making up data or results and falsely reporting something that wasn’t found 

• falsification → deliberate manipulation of research processes or results, changing or omitting data 

• plagiarism → appropriating another person’s ideas, work or writing without giving appropriate credit 

-threatens the reputation of science 

-serious consequences for misconduct

choosing a method

-no objective hierarchy of evidence like in quantitative research

-decisions about method should align with ontology, epistemology, research question and be appropriate for intended analysis

-decisions need to be documented and justified

qualitative data collection techniques

• observations/ethnography

• interviews

• focus groups

• case studies

• diaries

• media

• documents/archives

primary research

-requires researchers to collect first hand data for the research purpose 

secondary research

-researchers analyse existing data

-data isn’t directly acquired just for the research purpose

observation/ethnography (qualitative data collection technique)

-collecting data using one’s senses, especially looking and listening in a systematic and meaningful way 

-ethnography: 

• immersed in the natural environment for the purpose of data collection

• take in depth notes/recordings of behaviours 

• can be structured/unstructured, complete observer/involved

focus groups (qualitative data collection technique)

-taking data from group of people when multiple participants are present at once

-exploring issues within a social context

-engaging participants in discussions that are focussed on a particular topic

-facilitating group discussion between participants

focus group schedule

-outline certain topics, questions or tasks for participants to complete

ethics with focus groups

-important to think about differences in navigating social issues

• consent

• confidentiality and anonymity

• risk of harm

diaries (qualitative data collection technique)

-can use existing sources e.g., archived diary entries 

-can get participants to keep diary records for research purposes 

-e.g., audio-diary, written diary, video diary 

media (qualitative data collection technique)

-analyse information that is available from any number of potential media outlets

-analyse content from media sources and the way in which topics are framed

-may overlap data collection that relies on documents/archives and/or internet data

documents/archives (qualitative data collection technique)

-can be text or images

-past records, registers, letters, diaries, reports

-finding, selecting, appraising and synthesising data from documents

-document analysis yields excerpts, quotations, or entire passages from records, correspondence, official reports and open-ended surveys

internet-based research (qualitative data collection technique)

-can use the internet for primary or secondary research

-primary data collection using the internet

-secondary research → data taken off public websites, internet forums, facebook/instagram

ethics with internet-based research

-blurred public/private domain 

-consent → how to seek it? is it necessary? obtain retrospectively? 

-risk → emotional questions, harder tor respond to, confidentiality breaches 

naturally occurring data

-what is present in the world without any researcher intervention

-media sources, naturalistic online materials, existing documents/archives

-some data sources can be naturally occurring but might not be such as diaries/written accounts and observations

-some discursive researchers argue that data should be ‘naturally occurring’

-it is important that participants are free to say what they please

interview methods 

-most common qualitative data collection method 

-1:1 basis → researcher asks questions to get detailed information on a particular phenomena 

-can be phone, online or face-to-face 

-researcher involvement

-requires reflexivity cognition 

-certain considerations/skills → open questions, prompts, developing rapport 

interview guide/schedule

-lists topics or questions to be covered 

structured interviews

-follow standardised questions in a set order with rigid delivery

-each participant will have a very similar experience

-will follow interview guide/schedule rigidly

structured interviews evaluation

+may produce more cohesive data that centres around key things/research focus → because asking set questions in set order

-may miss important insights that participants may have spoken about if they had the flexibility or opportunity to do so 

semi-structured interviews

-more flexible than structured interviews

-sets some specific guiding questions or topics with room for flexibility that allows participants to expand or go more in depth into issues most pertinent to them 

-will still have interview guide/schedule but may elaborate on some points that participants mention

semi-structured interviews evaluation

+good middle ground → some structure, whilst also allowing elaboration, clarification and diversions if necessary 

unstructured interviews

-entirely flexible

-impose limited rigidity on interview process

-naturally flowing conversation around particular theme with limited set questions in mind

unstructured interviews evaluation

+eliciting more natural, free-flowing responses 

-lack of structure may be difficult for some participants, who may require focus or prompting to elicit meaningful conversation 

types of questions

• open

• closed

• leading

• non-leading

• probes

closed questions

-elicit yes or no responses or short direct answer

-useful for covering factual background information

open questions 

-allow for more elaboration 

-often main questions in big Q qualitative research

leading questions

-sway the participant in a particular way

-ideally should not be used in order to understand paricipant’’s own views, experiences and responses

non-leading questions

-ideal compared to leading questions

-framed much more neutrally

probes

-try to get participants to expand on particular topics or answers

-interviewer may pick up on a particular response and ask things like - can you tell me more about that etc..

-unlikely to be seen as much in structured interviews

-more often utilised in unstructured and semi-structured

interviewer recommendations

• explain the research → check participant understands

• establish rapport → important participant feels comfortable to speak openly

• relevant and tailored questions

• clear, concise, open-ended questions

• effective use of probes

• active listening throughout → actually paying attention and responding to participant

5 phase framework for semi-structured schedules

• ensure semi-structured interviews are appropriate

• gather previous knowledge

• develop a preliminary guide (open, clear and relevant questions)

• pilot testing and revisions

• completed schedule

principles when running an interview

• be prepared

-determine location, check recording equipment, revise questions

• introductions

-welcome participants, establish rapport, explain process, check consent

• conduct the interview

-be clear and concise, open and non-leading questions, maintain active listening, monitor welfare of participant, effective probing

• endings

-thank participants, tailored debrief, remind of withdrawal procedures, contact details for follow-up questions