scholarly journals Toward a Posthumanist Ethics of Qualitative Research in a Big Data Era

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 669-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha S. Mauthner
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Concern ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Data Anonymization ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
The World

The Big Data phenomenon, and its uptake in qualitative research, raises ethical issues around data aggregation, data linkages, and data anonymization as well as concerns around changing meanings and possibilities of informed consent and privacy protection. In this article, I address the ethical issues that arise from Big Data through a posthumanist philosophical framework. The humanist ethics that underpins normative ethical concerns—as outlined above—focuses on the unequal power relationship between researchers and research subjects and the potential harm that research can cause to research participants. Ethical practice consists in following guidelines and codes of ethical conduct designed, not so much to avoid these power differentials, but to protect research participants from potential exploitation and infringements of their human rights. Unethical research is understood as research that breaches these principles and/or harms its research subjects. A posthumanist ethics treats knowledge-making itself as a matter of ethical concern. It shifts the focus away from the power of researchers over research participants toward the “world-making” powers of practices of inquiry: their ability to constitute (and not simply discover) the very nature of their objects/subjects of study. Its focus of ethical concern—what it regards as unethical—is research that claims to represent the world “as it really is.” On this approach, ethical practice consists in accounting for the ways in which research ontologically constitutes its objects and subjects of study. The critical intervention made possible by bringing a posthumanist perspective to bear on the ethics of qualitative research in a Big Data era is to foreground Big Data’s treatment of data as self-evident, and its positivist claim to represent the world innocently, accurately, and objectively, as matters of ethical concern.

Values, Ethics, and Justice

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Kobayashi ◽  
James Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Focus Attention ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Societal Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
American Geography

Questions of ethics, values, justice, and the moral principles according to which we engage in geographical scholarship, have always been a part of geography, but for the past two decades—and perhaps even more significantly, since the events of September 11, 2001—they have become a central part of the lexicon of American and international geographical scholarship. The Values, Justice and Ethics Specialty Group (VJESG) was formed in 1997 to respond to a felt need for geographers to focus on both the ethical issues that inform our academic work, and the ways in which that work is connected to larger societal issues. The concerns of the group have been less with a particular range of topics or approaches than with the ethical questions that cut across the entire discipline, on the assumption that such questions are bounded neither by subject matter nor by theoretical constraints. The group was formed at a time when questions of whether geographers should be concerned about the moral, ethical implications of their work had long since been replaced with questions of how geographers could focus attention on these issues. Concern is with the very difficult questions that link personal commitment, or reflexivity, with larger questions of research and pedagogy. One of the best sources of evidence of the importance of such questions, and of the intellectual sophistication with which they are being asked, is the journal Ethics, Place and Environment, inaugurated in 1998. This group felt a need, therefore, for a geographical forum in which to explore the relationship between American geography and the world in which it operates. While a relatively small number of geographers works in a more narrowly defined field that might be called moral philosophy (Sack 1997; Smith 1997,1998a, 2000), for the vast majority, ethical questions connect the academic and the personal lives of geographical practitioners, in ways that influence directly the questions they ask, the methodological and theoretical choices they make, and, perhaps most importantly, their personal relations with their research subjects and their own communities. As I. Hay (1998: 73) suggests, “the place to start that process is on our [geographers’] own professional bodies.”

scholarly journals Open Data in Qualitative Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 160940691882386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Chauvette ◽  
Kara Schick-Makaroff ◽  
Anita E. Molzahn
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Multiple Stakeholders ◽  
The World ◽  
Legal And Ethical Issues

There is a growing movement for research data to be accessed, used, and shared by multiple stakeholders for various purposes. The changing technological landscape makes it possible to digitally store data, creating opportunity to both share and reuse data anywhere in the world for later use. This movement is growing rapidly and becoming widely accepted as publicly funded agencies are mandating that researchers open their research data for sharing and reuse. While there are numerous advantages to use of open data, such as facilitating accountability and transparency, not all data are created equally. Accordingly, reusing data in qualitative research present some epistemological, methodological, legal, and ethical issues that must be addressed in the movement toward open data. We examine some of these challenges and make a case that some qualitative research data should not be reused in secondary analysis.

scholarly journals First do no harm: An exploration of researchers’ ethics of conduct in Big Data behavioral studies

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241865
Author(s):  
Maddalena Favaretto ◽  
Eva De Clercq ◽  
Jens Gaab ◽  
Bernice Simone Elger
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Belmont Report ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Difficult Challenge ◽  
Education In Ethics

Research ethics has traditionally been guided by well-established documents such as the Belmont Report and the Declaration of Helsinki. At the same time, the introduction of Big Data methods, that is having a great impact in behavioral research, is raising complex ethical issues that make protection of research participants an increasingly difficult challenge. By conducting 39 semi-structured interviews with academic scholars in both Switzerland and United States, our research aims at exploring the code of ethics and research practices of academic scholars involved in Big Data studies in the fields of psychology and sociology to understand if the principles set by the Belmont Report are still considered relevant in Big Data research. Our study shows how scholars generally find traditional principles to be a suitable guide to perform ethical data research but, at the same time, they recognized and elaborated on the challenges embedded in their practical application. In addition, due to the growing introduction of new actors in scholarly research, such as data holders and owners, it was also questioned whether responsibility to protect research participants should fall solely on investigators. In order to appropriately address ethics issues in Big Data research projects, education in ethics, exchange and dialogue between research teams and scholars from different disciplines should be enhanced. In addition, models of consultancy and shared responsibility between investigators, data owners and review boards should be implemented in order to ensure better protection of research participants.

scholarly journals Participant voice first: the Busara research agenda on ethical research in the Global South

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOEL MUMO ◽  
Busara Lab Busara Lab ◽  
Tom Wein ◽  
Nicholas Calbraith Owsley
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Quality Research ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
The World ◽  
Closing The Loop ◽  
Protection Of Participants

The use of experiments in social science has brought huge gains in our knowledge of the world. However, in recent debates, sharp critiques of the power imbalances of the discipline have been made. There have been some responses on how we can improve our approach to be more ethical. These responses have often conceived of research ethics rather narrowly, and not included wider responsibilities beyond the protection of participants. Often missing from both sides has been empirical study of the preferences of those research participants, and the societies they belong to. As part of our commitment to racial, gender and wider social justice, commitment to advancing the voices of research participants, and under the banner of our values of respect and purpose, Busara proposes to organise and formalise its agenda on research ethics. We will combine past learnings with new studies over the next three years, to deeply understand the experiences of research participants, and find better ways of closing the loop in communication with those participants. From there, we will co-create, test and disseminate changes to research processes and practices that improve participant welfare and uphold ever-higher standards of ethical practice. We believe that this is both more just, and likely to produce better quality research.

Conducting Ethical Research Online

2004 ◽  
pp. 156-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Roberts ◽  
Leigh Smith ◽  
Clare Pollock
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Online Research ◽  
Ethical Research ◽  
Research Participants

Online research introduces new ethical issues inherent to the medium. In this chapter we provide a case study of online research in action, focusing on the ethical issues of conducting qualitative research within virtual environments. The case study provides an example of how research can be conducted within virtual environments with the consent of research participants and their community, without compromising their confidentiality, violating their assumptions of privacy or infringing upon their copyright entitlements.

Ethical Issues in Qualitative Nursing Research

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Immy Holloway ◽  
Stephanie Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Clinical Situation ◽  
Voluntary Participation ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Potential Conflict ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Research Nurses

This article is concerned with ethical issues that have to be considered when under taking qualitative research. Some of the issues - such as informed consent, the dignity and privacy of the research subjects, voluntary participation and protection from harm - are the same as in other types of research and have their basis in moral and ethical principles. Qualitative research, however, generates specific ethical problems because of the close relationship that researchers form with participants. Qualitative research with patients is especially difficult because of their vulnerability and lack of power in the clinical situation. Therefore the potential conflict between the dual role of the nurse - the professional and the research roles - has to be solved. Researchers also learn how to cope with the tension of subjective and objective elements of the research. Nurses who attempt qualitative research have to consider a variety of complex ethical issues, which are addressed in this paper.

scholarly journals Praksis Pastoral Terhadap Pelaut di Gereja Toraja Klasis Makale Selatan

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Martinus Esong
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Service Area ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Is Research ◽  
The World ◽  
Behavior Motivation ◽  
Approach Method

The aim to be achived in this paper is to analyze the relevant pastoral services (praxis) for the problems of seafares in the service area of the Southern  Makale Classics Toraja Church. In this paper, the approach method that i use is a qualitative approach. Qualitative research is research that intends or aims to understand the phenomena experienced by research subjects sich as perseptual behavior, motivation, action, etc., holistically, and by means of description in the form of words and language. In addition, the authors also use literature studies. Based on the results obtained from field research and literature riview, the author can conclude that basically the servants (counselors) understand their duties but they have not been able to prove it in the world of service specifically to seafarers (theoretical). This is what makes the image seafarer continue to be under the bad quotes and also experiencing such dire conditions. That is what makes sailors continue to live in deep inner wounds. Servants should make visits, contact seafarers who are far from family, regularly refer seamen, make no distinctions about seafarers and be trustworthy friends. These are the practical things that sailors desperately need. Abstrak: Tujuan yang hendak dicapai dalam penulisan ini adalah hendak menganalis pelayanan pastoral (praksis) yang relevan bagi permasalahan pelaut dalam wilayah Pelayanan Gereja Toraja Klasis Makale Selatan. Dalam karya tulisan ini metode pendekatan yang penulis gunakan adalah metode pendekatan kualitatif. Penelitian kualitatif adalah penelitian yang bermaksud atau bertujuan untuk memahami fenomena tentang apa yang dialami oleh subjek penelitian misalnya perilaku persepsi, motivasi, tindakan, dll, secara holistik, dan dengan cara deskripsi dalam bentuk kata-kata dan bahasa. Selain itu penulis juga menggunakan studi literature atau kajian pustaka. Berdasarkan hasil yang diperoleh dari penelitian lapangan dan kajian pustaka, penulis dapat menyimpulkan bahwa pada dasarnya para pelayan (konselor) paham akan tugasnya tetapi mereka belum mampu membuktikan hal itu dalam dunia pelayanan secara khusus kepada para pelaut (teoritis). Hal itulah yang mebuat citra pelaut terkesan terus berada  dalam tanda kutip buruk dan juga mengalami kondisi yang memprihatinkan. Hal itulah yang mebuat para pelaut terus hidup dalam luka batin yang mendalam. Para pelayan seharusnya melakukan perkunjungan, menghubungi para pelaut yang jauh dari kelaurga, rutin mendokan pelaut, tidak mebeda-bedakan pelaut dan menjadi sahabat yang dapat dipercaya. Itulah hal-hal praksis yang sangat dibutuhkan pelaut.

scholarly journals Could Cambridge Analytica Have Delivered Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Victory? An Anthropologist’s Look at Big Data and Political Campaigning

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-147
Author(s):  
Vito Laterza
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
Political Campaigning ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World

Abstract I first provide some context about Cambridge Analytica’s (ca) activities, linking them to ca parent company, scl Group, which specialised in “public relations” campaigns around the world across multiple sectors (from politics to defence and development), with the explicit aim of behavioural change. I then analyse in more detail the claims made by mathematician and machine learning scholar David Sumpter, who dismisses the possibility that ca might have successfully deployed internet psychographics (e.g. online personality profiling) in the winning 2016 Trump presidential campaign in the US. I critique his arguments, pointing at the need to focus on the bigger picture and on the totality of ca methods, rather than analysing psychographics in isolation. This is followed by a section where I use ca whistleblower Christopher Wylie’s 2019 memoir to show the important role that in-depth qualitative research and methods akin ethnographic immersion might have played in building ca big data capabilities. I provide an angle on big data that sees it as complementary, rather than in opposition to, human insight that comes from qualitative immersion in the social realities targeted by ca. The concluding section discusses additional questions that should be explored to gain a deeper understanding of how big data is changing political campaigning, with an emphasis on the important contribution that anthropology can make to these crucial debates.

Swazi co-researcher participants’ dynamic preferences and motivations for, representation with real names and (English-language) pseudonyms – an ethnography

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 722-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Brear
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Dynamic Preferences

Using pseudonyms is the accepted and expected ethical practice for maintaining participants’ privacy in qualitative research. However it may not always be ethical, for example in participatory action research (PAR), where academics aim to recognise co-researcher participants’ contributions. I used Bourdieusian theory to analyse data detailing deliberations about, and the dynamic pseudonym-related preferences of, 10 co-researcher participants, generated through an ethnography of PAR in rural Swaziland. The analysis demonstrates the salience of engaging participants in careful deliberations about pseudonyms and the racism and privilege inherent to the practice of White (or otherwise powerful) academics researching and representing non-White (or otherwise marginalized) participants. It further highlights practical strategies academics might employ to facilitate ethical and potentially transformative deliberations with their research participants about pseudonyms, which unmask this racism and privilege.

Conducting Ethical Research Online

2008 ◽  
pp. 324-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Roberts ◽  
Leigh Smith ◽  
Clare Pollock
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Online Research ◽  
Ethical Research ◽  
Research Participants

Online research introduces new ethical issues inherent to the medium. In this chapter we provide a case study of online research in action, focusing on the ethical issues of conducting qualitative research within virtual environments. The case study provides an example of how research can be conducted within virtual environments with the consent of research participants and their community, without compromising their confidentiality, violating their assumptions of privacy or infringing upon their copyright entitlements.

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