Qualitative migration research ethics: a roadmap for migration scholars

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-279
Author(s):  
Ricard Zapata-Barrero ◽  
Evren Yalaz
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Ethical Awareness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migration Research ◽  
And Migration

PurposeThis article aims to set a roadmap for an ethical programme, which we call “qualitative migration research ethics” (QMRE). It is a scoping review that maps current ethical challenges that migration scholars often face and provide guidance, while acknowledging the fact that many researchers deal with ethical issues on a case-by-case basis.Design/methodology/approachBy connecting three lines of debates – ethics in social sciences, in qualitative research and in migration studies – this article addresses the following core questions: What are the particular ethical dilemmas in qualitative migration research (QMR)? How do migration researchers deal with these ethical dilemmas? What is the role of universal ethical codes of conduct and case-by-case ethical considerations in dealing with particular situations?FindingsThis review demonstrates that special aspects of migration research context, e.g. participants' mobility, potential vulnerability and migration as a politicized issue as well as the flexible and exploratory nature of qualitative research require particular ethical awareness that cannot be sufficiently addressed by standardized guidelines.Originality/valueIt proposes that efforts to raise ethical awareness must go beyond researchers' ethical confessions or blind adherence to pre-fixed guidance. Researchers must have critical “ethical radar” before, during and after their fieldwork; not only while working on extreme and vulnerable cases but also while doing all kind of research regardless of the level of vulnerability. Last but not least, this article claims the need for including critical ethical consciousness substantially in higher education programmes at the very beginning of the research career.

Ethical dilemmas and challenges in ethnographic migration research

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-291
Author(s):  
Martha Montero-Sieburth
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migration Research ◽  
The Us

PurposeArgued is the need for: (1) a clearer interpretation of procedural ethics guidelines; (2) the identification and development of ethical field case study models which can be incorporated into university ethics teaching; (3) an understanding of the vulnerabilities of researchers and participants as reflected in the researchers' positionality and reflexivity and (4) ethnographic monitoring as a participant-friendly and participatory ethics methodology.Design/methodology/approachThis article, drawn from the author's four-decade trajectory of collective ethnographic research, addresses the ethical challenges and dilemmas encountered by researchers when conducting ethnographic research, particularly with vulnerable migrant women and youth.FindingsThe author addresses dilemmas in field research resulting from different interpretations of ethics and emphasizes the need for researchers to be critically aware of their own vulnerabilities and those of migrants to avoid unethical practices in validating the context(s), language(s), culture and political landscape of their study.Research limitations/implicationsThe author presents case studies from the US and the Netherlands, underlining her positionality and reflexivity and revisits Dell Hymes' ethnographic monitoring approach as a participant-friendly, bottom-up methodology which enables researchers to co-construct knowledge with participants and leads to participatory ethics.Practical implicationsShe presents case studies from the US and the Netherlands underlining her positionality and reflexivity and revisits Dell Hymes’ ethnographic monitoring approach as a participant-friendly, bottom up methodology which enables researchers to co-construct knowledge with participants and engage in participatory ethics.Social implicationsFinally, she proposes guidelines for the ethical conduct of research with migrant populations that contribute to the broader methodological debates currently taking place in qualitative migration research.Originality/valueExpected from this reading is the legacy that as a qualitative migration researcher one can after 4 decades of research leave behind as caveats and considerations in working with vulnerable migrants and the ethical dilemmas and challenges that need to be overcome.

Qualitative research ethics on the spot

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Øye ◽  
Nelli Øvre Sørensen ◽  
Stinne Glasdam
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Review Boards

Background: The increase in medical ethical regulations and bureaucracy handled by institutional review boards and healthcare institutions puts the researchers using qualitative methods in a challenging position. Method: Based on three different cases from three different research studies, the article explores and discusses research ethical dilemmas. Objectives and ethical considerations: First, and especially, the article addresses the challenges for gatekeepers who influence the informant’s decisions to participate in research. Second, the article addresses the challenges in following research ethical guidelines related to informed consent and doing no harm. Third, the article argues for the importance of having research ethical guidelines and review boards to question and discuss the possible ethical dilemmas that occur in qualitative research. Discussion and conclusion: Research ethics must be understood in qualitative research as relational, situational, and emerging. That is, that focus on ethical issues and dilemmas has to be paid attention on the spot and not only at the desktop.

scholarly journals Ethics in Forced Migration Research: Taking Stock and Potential Ways Forward

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-138
Author(s):  
Christina Clark-Kazak
Keyword(s):  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Relational Ethics ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Migration Studies ◽  
Migration Research ◽  
And Training

Migration research poses particular ethical challenges because of legal precarity, the criminalization and politicization of migration, and power asymmetries. This paper analyzes these challenges in relation to the ethical principles of voluntary, informed consent; protection of personal information; and minimizing harm. It shows how migration researchers — including those outside of academia — have attempted to address these ethical issues in their work, including through the recent adoption of a Code of Ethics by the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM). However, gaps remain, particularly in relation to the intersection of procedural and relational ethics; specific ethical considerations of big data and macrocomparative analyses; localized meanings of ethics; and oversight of researchers collecting information outside of institutional ethics boards. The paper concludes with the following recommendations: Institutional Research Ethics Boards should familiarize themselves with the particular ethical challenges in migration research, as well as available resources, such as the IASFM Code of Ethics. Ethics boards should include researchers and community representatives who are familiar with migration in reviews of related projects. Academic and training programs in migration studies should include sessions and resources on migration-specific research ethics. Nonacademic organizations, including migrant-led organizations, should provide information resources and training to their staff and clients to ensure that they understand procedural ethics requirements, relational ethical principles, as well as the rights of those asked to participate in research. Organizations conducting their own research should establish ethics review processes and relational ethics norms. A leading migration studies center or institution should map existing ethical guidelines and processes in different countries and contexts to be better aware of overlap and gaps. This mapping should take the form of an open access, interactive database, so that information can be accessible and updated in real time. Researchers should engage in more dissemination of lessons learned on ethics in migration. While there is some emerging consensus on key ethical principles for migration research, it is in their application that researchers face dilemmas. Honest reflection and sharing of these experiences will help researchers to anticipate and manage similar dilemmas they encounter while undertaking research. Researchers at all stages of their careers should not undertake migration research without having first reviewed some of the literature on ethics and migration, which is partially cited in this paper. Research centers should facilitate dialogue on ethical issues in languages other than English, particularly languages most spoken by people in migration, and by people who are underrepresented in formal ethics processes and debates, especially those with direct experience of migration.

Distinctive ethical challenges in qualitative research with migrant children

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-303
Author(s):  
Diego Castillo Goncalves
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Migrant Children ◽  
The Body ◽  
Ethical Challenge ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Choices ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
And Migration

PurposeThis paper describes distinctive ethical challenges encountered in qualitative research with migrant children. It brings attention to how the exploratory nature of qualitative research, intersected with the multifaced realities of migrant children, shapes stances towards these ethical challenges.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is developed through conceptual and reflective contributions. It narrates distinctiveness within ethical challenges via the literature. It then illustrates these, through the author's experiences of negotiating such tensions on a project with a category of migrant children, namely, separated children.FindingsEthical choices are made throughout the research processes. These choices need to be matched to distinctive childhood and migration intersections, and methodological frameworks must reflect these, including when applied to standardised ethical guidelines. Transparency, reflexivity and positionality influence these choices, and researchers have enhanced responsibility to minimise harm in how they research migrant children.Research limitations/implicationsFindings relate to work in development, where sensitivities regarding research conduct are still present. The scope is therefore on particular challenges of dealing with ethical codes and practices. The intention of the author is for this to be a reflective discussion producing paper, but not a practice guide.Originality/valueIts value is centred on taking generalised ethical challenges in qualitative work with children and systematically contextualising these regarding factors specific to migrant children, arguing that the way which migrant children are represented is in itself a key ethical challenge. It further contributes to the body of knowledge by describing procedures of a qualitative study which address some of this distinctiveness.

scholarly journals Psychotherapy Ethics in Twentieth-Century Literature

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Magdalena Elsner
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Therapeutic Relationship ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Twentieth Century Literature ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Century Literature

Ethical issues arising in the practice of psychotherapy, such as confidentiality, boundaries in the therapeutic relationship, and informed consent, figure prominently in a range of twentieth-century literary texts that portray psychotherapy. This chapter analyzes the portrayal of these conflicts, but also stresses that they are often marginal to the overall plot structures of these narratives and that literary depictions of psychotherapy are often vague or even inaccurate concerning key characteristics of psychotherapeutic practice. Focusing on examples that either illustrate professionalism and the absence of ethical challenges in psychotherapy, or take up the ethical reservations that fueled anti-Freudianism or the anti-psychiatry movement, the chapter proposes that selected literary depictions of psychotherapy can play a key role in sensitizing therapists to the complex make-up of ethical dilemmas as well as illustrating the cultural and historical contexts of these dilemmas.

scholarly journals Ethical dilemmas in studying family consumption

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratna Khanijou ◽  
Daniela Pirani
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emotional Challenges ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
The Family ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Family Consumption

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the types of ethical challenges and dilemmas researchers face when engaging in family consumption research. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the concept of micro-ethics to bridge reflexivity with ethics in practice, the paper provides a reflexive account of the various ethical dilemmas encountered by two family consumption scholars during their fieldwork. Both researchers conducted qualitative research on family meals. Findings The paper reveals five types of ethical tensions that can arise when doing research on family consumption. These tensions are addressed as display, positioning, emotional, practical and consent dilemmas, all of which have ethical implications. The findings unpack these dilemmas, showing empirical and reflexive accounts of the researchers as they engage in ethics in practice. Solutions and practical strategies for dealing with these ethical tensions are provided. Originality/value Despite the growing interest in interpretive family research, there is less attention on the ethical and emotional challenges researchers face when entering the family consumption scape. As researching families involves entering an intimate area of participants’ lives, the field may be replete with tensions that may affect the researcher. This paper brings the concept of micro-ethics to family marketing literature, showing how researchers can do ethics in practice. The paper draws on reflexive accounts of two researchers’ personal experiences, showing their emotional, practical, positioning and display challenges. It also provides practical strategies for researchers to deal with dilemmas in the field.

Discovering dimensions of research ethics in doing oral history: going public in the case of the Ghent orphanages

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieselot De Wilde ◽  
Griet Roets ◽  
Bruno Vanobbergen
Keyword(s):  
Research Ethics ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Going Public ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Second World

In this article, we argue that research ethics in the doing of oral history research are inadequately addressed in the existing body of research. Although oral history researchers have paid considerable attention to procedural ethical issues, there is currently a lack of attention on situational research ethics in the doing of oral history. We address particular ethical challenges that we experienced while reconstructing the history of three remaining orphanages after the Second World War in the city of Ghent (a city in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) by drawing on oral history research from former orphans and ex-staff members. Their rather surprising, yet pertinent, questions enabled us to discover the political nature of research ethics, and prompted us to engage in ‘going public’. We discuss the complexities of our attempt to provide a ‘questionable’ historical interpretation for the ambiguous history of these childhood institutions in the recent past.

Confidentiality in participatory research

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmira Petrova ◽  
Jan Dewing ◽  
Michelle Camilleri
Keyword(s):  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethics Committee ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Research Ethics Committee ◽  
Practice Development

Aim: This article presents key ethical challenges that were encountered when conducting a participatory qualitative research project with a very specific, small group of nurses, in this case with practice development nurses in Malta. Background: With the small number of nurses employed in practice development roles in Malta, there are numerous difficulties of maintaining confidentiality. Poorly constructed interventions by the researcher could have resulted in detrimental effects to research participants and the overall trustworthiness of the research. Generally, ethical guidelines for research exist to reinforce validity of research; however, there is not an established consensus on how these strategies can be utilised in some types of qualitative field work. Research design: The researcher used an exploratory case study methodology. The sample consisted of 10 participants who were interviewed twice using face-to-face interviews, over a period of 2 months. Ethical considerations: The study was ethically reviewed by the University Research Ethics Committee and the Faculty Research Ethics Committee, University of Malta. The participants referred to in this article have been given adequate information about the study and their consent has been obtained. Discussion: Numerous strategies for ensuring confidentiality during recruitment of the participants, during data collection, during transcription and data analysis and during dissemination of research results assisted the researcher in responding to potential and actual ethical issues. Conclusion: This article emphasises the main strategies that can be used to respond to ethical challenges when researching with a small easily identifiable group. The learning discussed here may be relevant to or even transferable to other similar research studies or research contexts. These methods fostered a greater credibility throughout the research process and predisposed the participants to greater trust, and thus, they disclosed their experiences and speak more freely, thus enhancing the quality of the study.

scholarly journals Negotiating Responsibility for Navigating Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research: A Review of Miller, Birch, Mauthner, and Jessop’s (2012) Ethics in Qualitative Research, Second Edition

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle McCarron
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Research Ethics Committees ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Research Ethics Boards

Ethics in Qualitative Research (Miller, Birch Mauthner, & Jessop, 2012), now in its second edition, uses a feminist framework to present a variety of issues pertinent to qualitative researchers. Topics include traditional challenges for qualitative researchers (e.g., access to potential participants, informed consent, overlapping roles), as well as those that have garnered more attention in recent years, particularly with regard to uses and consequences of technological advances in research. The book is critical of committees whose function it is to review proposed research and grant research ethics approval (e.g., University Research Ethics Committees [URECs], Research Ethics Boards [REBs], and Institutional Review Boards [IRBs]). The authors of this book are situated within the United Kingdom. The editors take the position that ethics oversight by the researchers themselves is preferable and that such boards and committees are not well equipped to review qualitative research. A rebuttal to this position is presented within this review. Ethics in Qualitative Research provides a good overview of ethical issues that researchers face and is effective in merging theory with practice. It would be strengthened by avoiding the debate over URECs or by offering concrete suggestions for how URECs can improve their reviews of qualitative research.

scholarly journals Ethics in Laboratory Medicine: An Overview of Considerations for Ethical Issues

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neerja Aggarwal ◽  
Pawan Kumar Kare ◽  
Sudip Kumar Datta
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Clinical Chemistry ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Laboratory Medicine ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Medical Laboratory ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Iso 15189 ◽  
Laboratory Staff ◽  
Resource Limited

Several ethical issues exist within the diagnostic medical laboratory. The major ethical challenges such as; consent, confidentiality, codes of conduct, conflict of interest, lab utilisation, proficiency, and direct access testing are some times more prevalent in resource-limited settings. Presently, decisions regarding diagnosis and patient’s treatment are commonly taken on the basis of outcomes and interpretations of laboratory test results. Therefore, ethics plays a significant role in laboratory medicine. Apart from the lab results, laboratory staff is another important aspect of the laboratory. Hence, it is highly recommended that knowledge of ethics helps to protect confidence; operational integrity, capability, impartiality, and safety of the staff. Many countries and their professional societies have developed policies and guidance material with regard to ethical issues in the area of laboratory medicine. The organizations specially; International of federation of clinical chemistry (IFCC), American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have defined ethical recommendations for clinical laboratories. They are, in general, outlined the responsibilities of laboratory professionals towards their profession, the patient, and the society. However, implication of ethical standards and guidelines are vary between different cultures, geographies, and according to available resources. In this chapter, we have mentioned the ethical consideration of IFCC, AACC and ISO 15189:2012 with regard to laboratory medicine and also addressed the various ethical issues that arises day to day in laboratory medicine in the current scenario.

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