Qualitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences:

Innovation, Integration and Impact

Qualitative Research and Ethical Approval

One day workshop, 14th March 2007, Queenss University Belfast

Social Sciences Research Ethics Resources

The following list of resources has been compiled in part using information
available from the following centres that provide web resources with
information on social science research ethics:
Developing a Framework for Social Science Research Ethics - ESRC
project at the Science and Technology Studies Unit (SATSU), University
of York and the School of Social Sciences and Law, Oxford Brookes
University http://www.york.ac.uk/res/ref/kb.htm
Lancaster University - Unpacking the Moral Maze: Ethical Guidelines for
Social
Researchers
http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fss/resources/ethics/codes.htm
University of Southampton - Informed Consent and the Research Process
project
http://www.sociology.soton.ac.uk/Proj/Informed_Consent/ - including
references from the Annotated Bibliography on Informed Consent, by
Wiles, R., Charles, V., Heath S., & Crow., G.

Ethical Guidelines and Guidance

The Association for Qualitative Research - Best Practice Rules and Guidelines
http://www.aqr.org.uk/refsection/recruitment-bestpract.shtml
Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth Ethical Guidelines for Good Research Practice
http://www.theasa.org/ethics/ethics_guidelines.htm
Barnardos Statement of Ethical Research Practice
http://www.barnardos.org.uk/ethical.pdf
British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) - Recommendations on Good
Practice
http://www.baal.org.uk/about_goodpractice_full.pdf
British Educational Research Association (BERA) - Revised Ethical Guidelines
for Educational Research
http://www.bera.ac.uk/publications/guides.php
British International Studies Association
Professional Conduct
http://www.bisa.ac.uk/code.htm
1

(BISA)

Guidelines

for

Good

The British Psychological Society Code of Conduct

http://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/ethics-rules-charter-code-of-conduct/
British Society of Criminology - Code of Ethics for Researchers in the Field of
Criminology
http://britsoccrim.org/ethical.htm
The British Sociological Association: Statement of Ethical Practice
http://www.britsoc.co.uk/equality/63.htm
Central Office for Research Ethics Committees (COREC) - Guidance on the NHS
REC application
http://www.corec.org.uk/recs/guidance/guidance.htm
The Council for Industry and Higher Education Ethical Issues and Higher
Education
http://www.cihe-uk.com/ethics.php
Department of Health Research Governance Framework for Health and Social
Care
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/ResearchAndDevelopment/Research
AndDevelopmentAZ/ResearchGovernance/fs/en
The Economic and Social Research Council - Research Ethics Framework
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ref
The Glasgow Centre for the Child and Society Code of Practice on Research
ethics
http://www.gccs.gla.ac.uk/docs/pdf/CodeOfPractice.pdf
The Market Research Society Code of Conduct
http://www.mrs.org.uk/standards/codeconduct.htm
Medical Research Council (MRC) - Ethics and Research Governance Policy and
Guidance
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/PolicyGuidance/EthicsAndGovernance/index.htm
National Childrens Bureau (NCB) - Guidelines for Research
http://www.ncb.org.uk/Page.asp?originx1838gs_81330095622449n31q531441
Nuffield Council on Bioethics Public Health: Ethical Issues
http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/go/ourwork/publichealth/introduction
Oral History Society Ethical Guidelines
http://www.ohs.org.uk/ethics/ethics.html
Office for Research Ethics Committees in Northern Ireland Guidance on the
HPSS REC
2

http://www.orecni.org.uk
Royal College of Nursing Research Ethics RCN Guidance for Nurses
http://www.rcn.org.uk/publications/pdf/researchethics.pdf
The Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers - Research
Ethics and a Code of Practice
http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/CBD85FFC-9B56-4C2F-A6157B41DD02C6B8/0/ResearchEthicsCodeofPractice190606.pdf
The Social Research Association (SRA) Ethical Guidelines
http://www.the-sra.org.uk/ethical.htm
Socio-Legal Studies Association - First Re-statement of Research Ethics
http://www.slsa.ac.uk/download/ethics_drft1.pdf
The Welcome Trust Guidelines on Good Research Practice
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_wtd002757.html

Academic centres concerned with research ethics

University of Birmingham Centre for the Study of Global Ethics
http://www.globalethics.bham.ac.uk/
The Economic and Social Research Council Methods Programme Links to
Ethical Guidelines and UK Resource Centres
http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/methods/links/
University of Southampton - Informed consent and the research process
http://www.sociology.soton.ac.uk/Proj/Informed_Consent/
Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) Ethical and Legal Considerations
http://www.esds.ac.uk/aandp/create/ethical.asp
University of Lancaster - Ethics and Ethical Practice in Social Science Research
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/ihr/events/esrcResearchTrainingProgramme.html

Recent references on research ethics

Alderson, P. (2000) Ethics Review of Social Research: ten topics for social
researchers to consider. Education-line database.
Alderson, P. & Morrow, V. (2004) Ethics, social research and consulting with
children and young people, Barkingside, Barnados
Butler, I. (2002) A code of ethics for social work and social care, British Journal
of Social Work, 32, 239-248
Christensen, P (2004) Childrens participation in ethnographic research: Issues
of power and representation, Children & Society, 18, 2, 165-176
Christensen, P & Prout, A (2002) Working with ethical symmetry in social
research with children, Childhood, 9, 4, 477-497
Christians, C. G. (2005) Ethics and politics in qualitative research, in N. K.
Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds.) Handbook of qualitative research, Third edition.
Thousand Oaks CA: Sage.
Coomber, R. (2002) Signing your life away?: why Research Ethics Committees
(REC) shouldnt always require written confirmation that participants in
research have been informed of the aims of a study and their rights the case
of criminal populations (Commentary). Sociological Research Online 7,1.
Cloke, P. (2002) Deliver us from evil? Prospects for living ethically and acting
politically in human geography, Progress in Human Geography 26(5) 587-604.

Cutcliffe JR, Ramcharan P (2002) Leveling the playing field? Exploring the
merits of the ethics-as-process approach for judging qualitative research
proposals, Qualitative Health Research 12 (7): 1000-1010
Eby, M.A. (2000) Producing evidence ethically, in Gomm R & Davies C (eds)
Using evidence in health and social care, London, Open University Press, 108128
Ensign, J. (2003) Ethical issues in qualitative health research with homeless
youths. Journal of Advanced Nursing 43,1: 43-50
Epstein, M. & Wingate, D.L. (2007) Outsourcing the NHS REC system - Is the
NHS research ethics committees system to be outsourced to a low-cost
offshore call centre? Reflections on human
research ethics after the Warner Report, Journal of Medical Ethics 33 (1): 4547
Forbat L, Henderson J (2003) "Stuck in the middle with you": The ethics and
process of qualitative research with two people in an intimate relationship,
Qualitative Health Research 13 (10): 1453-1462
Fraser J (2004) A case report: ethics of a proposed qualitative study of hospital
closure in an Australian rural community, Family Practice 21 (1): 87-91
Grinyer, A. (2001) Ethical dilemmas in nonclinical health research from a UK
perspective. Nursing Ethics 8,2: 123-132
Haimes, E. (2002) What can the social sciences contribute to the study of
ethics? Theoretical, empirical and substantive considerations. Bioethics 16,2:
89-113.
Hammersley M (2006) Are Ethics Committees Ethical? Qualitative Researcher,
2, 4-7
Hannigan, B. & Allen D. (2003) A tale of two studies: research governance
issues arising from two ethnographic investigations into the organisation of
health and social care. International journal of nursing studies 40: 685-695
Harden, J., Scott, S., Backett-Milburn, K. & Jackson, S. (2000) 'Can't talk,
won't talk?: methodological issues in researching children. Sociological
Research Online 5 (2)
Hay, I. (2003) Ethical practice in geographical research, in Clifford, N.J. and
Valentine, G (Eds) Key Methods in Geography. London: Sage, 37-54.
Herdman, E. (2000) Reflections on making somebody angry.
Health Research 10,5: 671-702.

Qualitative

Hill, M. (2005) Ethical considerations in researching childrens experiences, in

Greene, S. & Hogan, D. (eds) Researching childrens experience: methods and
approaches, London, Sage, 61-86
Hill, M., Davis, J., Prout, A., & Tisdall, K. (2004) Moving the participation
agenda forward, Children & Society, 18, 77-96
Hoeyer K, Dahlager L, Lynoe N. (2005) Conflicting notions of research ethics:
the mutually challenging traditions of social scientists and medical researchers,
Soc Sci Med. Oct;61(8):1741-9.
Journal of Advanced Nursing 43 (1), 4350.
Katz J (2006) Ethical escape routes for underground ethnographers, American
Ethnologist 33 (4): 499-506
Kennedy, J.E. (2006) Grey Matter: Ambiguities and Complexities of Ethics in
Research. Journal of Academic Ethics 3:2-4, 143
Kent, G. (2000) Ethics and qualitative research, Psychologist 13 (1)
King, N.M.P & Churchill, L.R. (2001) Ethical principles guiding research on child
and adolescent subjects, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 710-724
Krayer A (2003) Fieldwork, participation and practice: Ethics and dilemmas in
qualitative research., Sociology of Health & Illness 25 (1): 134-136
Lawton, J. (2001) Gaining and maintaining consent: ethical concerns raised in
a study of dying patients Qualitative Health Research 11: 69-73.
Lincoln, Y. S. (2005) Institutional review boards and methodological
conservatism: the challenge to and from phenomenological paradigms, in N. K.
Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand
Oaks CA: Sage.
Mauthner, M., Birch, M., Jessop, J., and Miller, T. (eds.) (2002) Ethics in
qualitative research. London: Sage.
Mulhall, A.(2003) In the field: notes on observation in qualitative research.
Journal of Advanced Nursing 41 (3): 306-313.
OKane, C. (2000) The development of participatory techniques: facilitating
childrens views about decisions which affect them in Christensen, P. & James,
A. (eds) Research with children: perspectives and practices, london, Falmer
Press, 136-159
Orb A, Eisenhauer L, Wynaden D (2001) Ethics in qualitative research, Journal
of Nursing Scholarship 33 (1): 93-96

Philipp, E. (1999) Ethics committees and qualitative research, New Zealand

Medical Journal 112 (1094)
Ramcharan, P & Cutcliffe, JR (2001) Judging the ethics of qualitative research:
considering the 'ethics as process' model, Health and Social Care in the
Community, 9, 6, 358-366
Richards, H.M. & Schwartz, L.J. (2002) Ethics of qualitative research: are there
special issues for health services research? Family Practice 19 (2): 135-139.
Sayers GM (2007) Research ethics - Should research ethics committees be told
how to think? JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS 33 (1): 39-42
Schuklenk, U. (2000) Protecting the vulnerable: testing times for clinical
research ethics Social Science and Medicine 51:6: 969-977.
Seymour, J. & Skilbeck, J. (2002) Ethical considerations in researching user
views European Journal of Cancer Care 11: 215-219.
Small, R. (2001) Codes are not enough: what philosophy can contribute to the
ethics of educational research. Journal of Philosophy of Education 35 (3): 387406.
Smith, D.M. (ed) (2000) Moral Geographies: ethics in a world of difference.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Smythe, W E & Murray, M J (2000) Owning the story: ethical considerations in
narrative research, Ethics and Behaviour, 10, 4, 311-336
Thompson, P. (2003) Towards ethical practice in the use of archived
transcripted interviews: a response International Journal of Social Research
Methodology 6,4: 357-360.
Truman, C. (2003) Ethics and the ruling relations of research production
Sociological Research Online 8(1)
Truscott D (2004) Fieldwork, participation and practice: Ethics and dilemmas in
qualitative research, Science Education 88 (5): 811-813
Valentine, G. (2003) Geography and ethics: in pursuit of social justice - ethics
and emotions in geographies of health and disability research, Progress in
Human Geography 27(3) 375-380.
Valentine, G., Butler, R. & Skelton, T. (2001) The ethical and methodological
complexities of doing research with vulnerable young people. Ethics, Place
and Environment 4:117-178
Wainwright, P. & Saunders, J. (2004) What are local issues? The problem of the
local review of research, Journal of Medical Ethics 30 (3): 313-317
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Williamson, G. & Prosser, S. (2002) Action research: politics, ethics and

participation. Journal of Advanced Nursing 40(5): 587-593.
Williamson, E., Kent, J., Goodenough, T. & Ashcroft R. (2002) Social Science
gets the ethics treatment. Sociological Research Online 7,4