Navigating Ethical Quandaries with Close Personal Contacts in Qualitative Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124162110606
Author(s):  
Jeannette I. Iannacone ◽  
Lindsey B. Anderson

There are a variety of ethical situations that qualitative communication researchers must navigate. This point is especially true when the research involves close personal contacts, such as friends and family members. In order to problematize the ethical frameworks that guide qualitative inquiry and illuminate the complexities of relational ethics, we—the authors—reflected on our past experiences engaging in research with close personal contacts. Specifically, we took a collaborative autoethnographic approach that involved sharing personal stories, drafting autoethnographic narratives, and engaging in individual and collaborative sensemaking. In doing so, we highlight the following three quandaries specific to conducting research with close personal contacts: (1) challenging/affirming identity anchors, (2) challenging/affirming power relations, and (3) challenging/affirming ownership. We explicate each of these themes using autoethnographic vignettes and conclude by offering five lessons learned of relational ethics, which are organized using the phases of qualitative research: conceptualization and design, data collection, and representation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Unika Prihatsanti ◽  
Suryanto Suryanto ◽  
Wiwin Hendriani

As a research method, case studies are often used in qualitative research, but there is no agreement on research procedures. Case studies have been widely used in psychology, which is not only used in the context of research but it has different meanings. The purpose of this article is to provide a description of the case study as a research method, by providing an overview of the procedures for conducting research which includes when case studies can be used, research design, data collection, data validity, and data analysis. This article seeks to help emerging researchers in the field of psychology with several views from Robert Yin and Robert Stake. This article helps researchers to familiarize themselves with the procedures of qualitative research using case studies. A case study approach that is applied correctly can be a valuable method for conducting research, especially in the field of psychology as a means of developing theory, evaluating programs, developing interventions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Poulin

Qualitative research has become increasingly perceived as well suited to the advancement of counseling psychology, yet opportunities for formal training in qualitative inquiry remain inconsistently available within and across graduate programs. For the potential contribution of this approach to counseling psychology to be realized, graduate students need routine access to adequate and appropriate coursework. In this article, the author shares a design and rationale for an introductory course in qualitative research, describes typical challenges faced by students, and offers strategies for fostering student learning and success. Limitations of the approach are discussed and recommendations offered based on lessons learned from practice.


Mousaion ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Mutsagondo ◽  
Getrude Maduyu ◽  
Godfrey Tsvuura

This paper discusses the challenges of records management that arise from the use of adapted buildings as records centres in Zimbabwe, despite the advantages of using such buildings. A qualitative research approach was used as well as a case study research design. Data were collected from seven officers of the Gweru Records Centre through semi-structured interviews. Personal observation was used to triangulate findings from interviews. It was found that the use of adapted buildings as records centres was a cheaper and quicker way of establishing records centres throughout the country. However, a number of preservation, security and management challenges cropped up as the conditions of the buildings and the environment of the adapted buildings were not conducive to the proper and professional management of records. This study is important in that it explores the prospects and challenges of using adapted buildings as records centres in Zimbabwe, an area that has not been researched by many authors. This provokes archival authorities and the government to seriously consider establishing purpose-built records and archival centres.


Based on personal accounts of their experiences conducting qualitative and quantitative research in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, the contributors to this volume share the real-life obstacles they have encountered in applying research methods in practice and the possible solutions to overcome them. The volume is an important companion book to more standard methods books, which focus on the “how to” of methods but are often devoid of any real discussion of the practicalities, challenges, and common mistakes of fieldwork. The volume is divided into three parts, highlighting the challenges of (1) specific contexts, including conducting research in areas of violence; (2) a range of research methods, including interviewing, process-tracing, ethnography, experimental research, and the use of online media; and (3) the ethics of field research. In sharing their lessons learned, the contributors raise issues of concern to both junior and experienced researchers, particularly those of the Global South but also to those researching the Global North.


Author(s):  
Maxwell Smith ◽  
Ross Upshur

Infectious disease pandemics raise significant and novel ethical challenges to the organization and practice of public health. This chapter provides an overview of the salient ethical issues involved in preparing for and responding to pandemic disease, including those arising from deploying restrictive public health measures to contain and curb the spread of disease (e.g., isolation and quarantine), setting priorities for the allocation of scarce resources, health care workers’ duty to care in the face of heightened risk of infection, conducting research during pandemics, and the global governance of preventing and responding to pandemic disease. It also outlines ethical guidance from prominent ethical frameworks that have been developed to address these ethical issues and concludes by discussing some pressing challenges that must be addressed if ethical reflection is to make a meaningful difference in pandemic preparedness and response.


Author(s):  
Erica L. Tucker

This chapter describes and discusses the major qualitative research methods used to study museums. These methods include analyses of visual displays and reconstructions; interviews with museum visitors, professionals, and stakeholders; as well as ethnographic fieldwork in museum settings. The chapter explores how these methods can be adapted to the study of exhibits, galleries, programs, and museums as knowledge-generating institutions from a range of case studies conducted by museum practitioners, anthropologists, historians, and other museum studies scholars at a variety of museums. Case studies are drawn from works that examine ethnographic, natural history, art and community museums as well as historic sites. Approaches to research design, data analyses, and writing up are also examined.


Author(s):  
Allen Trent ◽  
Jeasik Cho

This chapter addresses a wide range of concepts related to interpretation in qualitative research, examines the meaning and importance of interpretation in qualitative inquiry, and explores the ways methodology, data, and the self/researcher as instrument interact and impact interpretive processes. Additionally, the chapter presents a series of strategies for qualitative researchers engaged in the process of interpretation and closes by presenting a framework for qualitative researchers designed to inform their interpretations. The framework includes attention to the key qualitative research concepts transparency, reflexivity, analysis, validity, evidence, and literature. Four questions frame the chapter: What is interpretation, and why are interpretive strategies important in qualitative research? How do methodology, data, and the researcher/self impact interpretation in qualitative research? How do qualitative researchers engage in the process of interpretation? And, in what ways can a framework for interpretation strategies support qualitative researchers across multiple methodologies and paradigms?


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692110258
Author(s):  
Constance Iloh

Memes are a prominent feature of global life in the 21st century. The author asserts that memes are significant to current and future qualitative research. In particular, the text establishes memes as: (a) part of everyday communication, expression, and explanation, thus useful in qualitative research; (b) valuable cultural units and symbols; (c) forms of rapport building and cultivating relational research; (d) approaches that bolster and sustain remote data collection; (e) methods that infuse agency, humor, and creativity into the research process. The author then showcases distinctive ways memes can be effectively incorporated in qualitative research pursuits and publications. The article concludes with the necessity of data collection and representation approaches that advance the meaningfulness and cultural-relevance of qualitative inquiry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 102-102
Author(s):  
Alice Prendergast ◽  
Kristi Fuller

Abstract Efforts to include community voice in health policy and service planning are gaining recognition and support in the United States. Findings suggest community involvement can contribute to a better understanding of systems and factors that impact health, and, subsequently, more effective and sustainable policy and program design. Additionally, engagement can increase community buy-in, and community members can gain a greater awareness of services; increased confidence navigating systems; feelings of social connectedness; and capacity to advocate around issues through participation. Despite these findings, the extent to which community members are engaged in planning and decision-making varies considerably. Researchers from Georgia State University conducted a review of state plans on aging using the Person-Centered Outcomes Research Initiative (PCORI) Engagement Principles and the Health Research & Educational Trust’s Community and Patient Engagement Spectrum as frameworks to assess evidence of community engagement. The frameworks recognize engagement throughout the planning process, including design, data collection and interpretation, and dissemination. The review revealed that few planning processes described significant engagement, but rather met the minimal requirements established by federal policy. Federal guidance on community-informed planning practices is sparse, as are resources to support states in adopting these processes. To address this gap, the research team drew on the frameworks and other promising practices to design two community engagement projects, both in partnership with Georgia’s Division of Aging Services. Methods for participant engagement, data collection, interpretation and application of results, and lessons learned through both projects will be discussed, as well as potential implications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233339362110000
Author(s):  
Fuchsia Howard ◽  
Sarah Crowe ◽  
Scott Beck ◽  
Gregory Haljan

Individuals with chronic critical illness experience multiple complex physiological disturbances including ongoing respiratory failure, requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation, and thus communication impairments. In conducting a qualitative interpretive description study, we sought to ensure that individuals with chronic critical illness themselves were included as participants. Our commitment to recruiting these individuals to the study and ensuring their data meaningfully informed the analysis and findings required us to reconsider and challenge some of the traditional notions of high-quality qualitative research and develop appropriate practical strategies. These strategies included: (1) centering participant abilities and preferences, (2) adopting a flexible approach to conducting interviews, (3) engaging in a therapeutic relationship, and (4) valuing “thin” data. In this article, we extend existing literature describing the complexities of conducting research with individuals with communication impairments and strategies to consider in the hopes of informing future research with other populations historically excluded from study participation.


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