Session Information
Contribution
Ethics has long been a topic for methodological reflection and discussion among ethnographers, but in recent years it has become even more salient. There are several reasons for this. One is perhaps technical, relating to the development of new methods, notably the growing use of visual and online data, which has introduced some distinctive problems, or given old problems a new form. Another relates to the growth of ethical regulation, spreading from the field of health research to other areas of inquiry, including education. This is a development that has had particularly sharp consequences for ethnographic research, because the model of inquiry on which regulatory guidelines and arrangements are based is often at odds with it. A third cause of the recent attention given to ethics is the fragmentation of qualitative research into an array of paradigms, which has exacerbated differences in attitude about what counts as ethical research practice. These differences are often conceptualised in terms of fundamental philosophical and political conflicts. Such differences in attitude towards the significance, and the character, of ethical issues can be captured by a contrast between what I call moralism and machiavellianism. For the moralist there are fixed principles that should govern all behaviour, with clear rules derived from these that must not be broken; whereas, for the machiavellian, principles are more uncertain, while rules are more sparse and flexible, and often need to be broken in pursuit of desirable goals. These are, of course, ideal types, but they provide a useful framework through which to think about ethical issues in ethnographic research.
A central aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the grounds for current sources of disagreement about research ethics, and to engage with their implications for our understanding of ethnographic research practice. I will examine assumptions about what counts, and does not count, as ethnographic inquiry. I will point out that much current discussion about research ethics emphasises procedures or principles and neglects the situated character of methodological decisions. I will also argue that there has been a tendency for discussions of research ethics to be primarily concerned with the relations between researchers and the people they study, with great stress being placed upon the notion of informed consent. By contrast, a view of research ethics as a form of occupational ethics gives equal if not greater weight to those values associated with the production of knowledge, values that have come under increasing challenge in recent years as a result of the influence of constructionism and postmodernism. The implications for ethical ethnographic research practice will be examined.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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