(Image sourced from: https://research.unsw.edu.au/units/research-integrity)
Ethical obligations can shape the way that we use a particular forms of information or sources for the purpose of research. But what exactly is ethics? Ethics are widely-agreed principles about what is right and wrong and a compliance with ethics is only the minimum requirement when conducting research. Ethical research involves doing the right thing when conducting research whether this involves protecting the participant’s privacy or promising their anonymity and acting morally towards the research.
People have different perceptions and standards on what is seen as ‘ethical’. Ethical standards can vary between organisations, the research content, religious or social systems as they play a role in the type of research and what is perceived as morally appropriate. According to Tinkler, photographs in research contain ethical obligations in which the right to privacy and the right to ownership can hinder the approach to research ethics, “Researchers are usually required by law or ethics committee to seek permission from people before taking their photograph.“
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The “ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Review Paper” states the ethics, morality and legality in use of ‘visual methods’ in research. It is stated that everyone has different views on what is right and wrong that guides behaviour, but society as a whole does have an agreement to these principles such as fairness and justice.
Ethical dilemmas in research can cross many borders when considering visual imagery and the use of children. There are many ethical issues related to informend consent, confidentiality , protection and interactions when involving children ( Einarsdóttir, p. 197).
A case study was undergone to see childrens perspective on their childhood settings such as Preschool and why they attended it, what they did there, what they learnt etc. There was a group of 49 children involved over the course of three years. As the children were involved in research, they were seen as capable entities that could emit knowledge and through this were seen as capable individuals and strong members of society. Many forms of data collections were used including, interviews, questionnaires and photographs and due to this, the researchers were faced with many challenges and critical issues especially due to the fact that children were involved.
‘Informed consent’ was a major concern that the children needed to understand. They needed to know they were doing this voluntarily but this became difficult as the children were between the ages of 2-6, sought their concern with a higher power authority figure such as their teachers meaning they could find it difficult telling the researcher that they didn’t want to participate as they did not know what was going on.
Confidentiality was also an important factor for the ethical research especially with the use of the photographs of the children so the researcher had to approach all this with caution and explicitly promise confidentiality and both ethical and moral borders could potentially be crossed. Through this, it is evident that yes, Research ethics are seen as very important when conducting research.
References:
Einarsdóttir, Jóhanna 2007, ‘Research with children: methodological and ethical challenges’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Vol. 15, No. 2, June 2007
Wiles, R, Prosser, J, Bagnoli, R, Clark, A, Davies, K, Holland, S, Renold, E. 2008, ‘Visual Ethics: Ethical Issues in Visual Research’, ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Review Paper.
Tinkler, Penny 2013, ‘Ethical issues and legalities’, in Using photographs in social and historical research, SAGE, London, pp. 195-208
Dana Said 