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ETHICS AND RESEARCH METHODS IN EDUCATION 69
worth the effort. A study of racial prejudice,
for example, accurately labelled as such, would
certainly affect the behaviour of the subjects taking
part. Deception studies, he considers, differ so
greatly that even the harshest critics would be hard
pressed to state unequivocally that all deception
has potentially harmful effects on participants or
is wrong.
Ethics and research methods in education
Ethical problems arising from research methods
used in educational contexts occur passim
in Burgess’s (1989) edited collection, The Ethics
of Educational Research and in Simons and
Usher’s (2000) edited volume, Situated Ethics
in Educational Research. Every contribution in
these reflects the reality of the day-to-day
problems, issues and dilemmas that the educational
researcher and beginning researchers are likely
to encounter. These two books show that the
issues thrown up by the complexities of research
methods in educational institutions and their
ethical consequences are probably among the
least anticipated, particularly among the more
inexperienced researchers, not least the sociopolitical
dimension of research. Newcomers to the
field need to be aware of those kinds of research
which, by their nature, lead from one problem
to another. Indeed, the researcher will frequently
find that methodological and ethical issues are
inextricably interwoven in much of the research
we have designated as qualitative or interpretative.
As Hitchcock and Hughes (1989) note:
Doing participant observation or interviewing one’s
peers raises ethical problems that are directly related
to the nature of the research technique employed.
The degree of openness or closure of the nature of
the research and its aims is one that directly faces the
teacher researcher.
(Hitchcock and Hughes 1989)
They go on to pose the kinds of question
that may arise in such a situation. ‘Where for
the researcher does formal observation end and
informal observation begin’ ‘Is it justifiable to
be open with some teachers and closed with
others’ ‘How much can the researcher tell the
pupils about a particular piece of research’
‘When is a casual conversation part of the
research data and when is it not’ ‘Is gossip
legitimate data and can the researcher ethically use
material that has been passed on in confidence’
As Hitchcock and Hughes (1989) conclude, the
list of questions is endless yet they can be related
to the nature of both the research technique
involved and the social organization of the setting
being investigated. The key to the successful
resolution of such questions lies in establishing
good relations. This will involve the development
of a sense of rapport between researchers and their
subjects that will lead to feelings of trust and
confidence.
Fine and Sandstrom (1988) discuss in some
detail the ethical and practical aspects of doing
fieldwork with children. In particular they show
how the ethical implications of participant
observation research differ with the age of
the children. Another feature of qualitative
methods in this connection has been identified
by Finch (1985: 116–17) who comments on the
possible acute political and ethical dilemmas
arising from how data are used, both by the
researcher and others, and that researchers
have a duty of trust placed in them by the
participants to use privileged data appropriately,
not least for improvement of the condition of the
participants.
Kelly (1989a) suggests that the area in
qualitative research where one’s ethical antennae
need to be especially sensitive is that of action
research, and it is here that researchers, be
they teachers or outsiders, must show particular
awareness of the traps that lie in wait. These
difficulties have been summed up by Hopkins
(1985: 135) when he suggests that, as the
researcher’s actions are deeply embedded in the
organization, it is important to work within these,
and this throws into relief issues of confidentiality
and personal respect.
Box 2.8 presents a set of principles specially
formulated for action researchers by Kemmis
and McTaggart (1981) and quoted by Hopkins
(1985).
Chapter 2