Guidance for the Ethical Conduct of Research

All researchers can find guidance in the ethical conduct of research from such sources as their professional associations, government-sponsored reports, ethical review board stipulations, funding agencies, research sponsors, and scholarly literature. (You can find Web-based resources for these types of organizations and documents at the end of this chapter.) The establishment of ethical review boards is a significant development that emerged in response to harm associated with unethical research.

In the United States, researchers who are part of a university or college that receives federal funds are required to have their research proposals approved by an institutional review board (IRB) (even if their proposed research is not supported by federal funds). IRBs provide very specific guidance in terms of what evidence they need from a researcher in order to approve a research proposal, including an explanation of how the researcher documents the validity of the research design, justification of sampling strategies, and detailed procedures for obtaining informed consent. However, researchers have found limitations in using standard forms that IRBs require for submission of a proposal because these forms do not allow them to address the broader scope of complexity of the research situations, especially with qualitative research studies.

Qualitative educational and social researchers face particularly complex ethical issues because their research involves personal interaction with individuals and communities. The concept of researcher as instrument brings to the fore ethical issues related to relationships that generally receive less attention or are not addressed in quantitative research studies. In addition, educators and social scientists work in contexts in which issues of diversity are more visible now than ever before. Hence, researchers encounter additional ethical concerns when the dimensions of diversity relevant to a given study are typically associated with those having less power in the researcher-researched relationship on the basis of age, diminished capacity, historical legacies of oppression and discrimination, or social stigma, such as children, ethnic and racial minorities, people with disabilities, deaf people, religious minorities, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and queer/questioning) persons, indigenous peoples, criminals, drug users, and older adults.

The remainder of this chapter examines the principles and scientific norms for the ethical conduct of research, beginning with a historical look at their emergence and continuing with specific concerns that qualitative researchers have raised. The role of ethical review boards and professional associations' codes of ethics are integrated into the discussion.