To what extent can researchers plan for ethical issues when working with children and young people?
Over the course of this essay I shall be examining the question above in more detail. I try not to use first person references in your essays – rather use third person ie. This essay will examine … will look at the ethical issues that should be addressed when planning research and provide examples from a research journal and also a research paper that I have read. The journal that I will be using is by Barbara Dennis (2009) ‘What does it mean when an ethnographer intervenes?’ and the research paper that I will be using is by Samantha Punch (2004) ‘Negotiating Autonomy: Children’s use of time and space in rural Bolivia’ Then I will pull all the information together and review the main points of my essay in the conclusion. Rather than indicating the mechanics of how your essay will be constructed and the papers you will be considering, use your introduction to introduce the concepts and ideas you will be discussing in your essay and the position you will be adopting throughout. Note, that you do not need to list the titles of papers in your essay, they are indicated in your reference list.
Ethical issues are an important part of the whole research process right up to and including dissemination. The research process should follow an appropriate framework, an example of which was set out by Pricilla Alderson (2004) in reader B ‘Doing research with children and young people’ she calls it the ‘Ethical Framework’ and is based on three main ways of thinking that should be taken into account when planning a research project.
The Essay on Ethical Issues Child Labor
Ethical issues; meaning conforming to good morals, actions, or right principles of conduct, are problems that we encounter almost every day. Thinking about the word ethics brings to mind a controversial issue such as abortion, prejudice, or equalization of human rights. Goods ethics also means the simple things like telling the truth, avoiding cheating and manipulation of others, obeying the law, ...
• The Principles
To always respect the children or young people that you are doing the research on as human beings and that the research is good research. (Alderson, 2004, Pg 98)
• Rights Based Research
Again this is to make sure that respect is given to the research subject but it is also concerned with the rights and follows the 3P’s of Providing, Protection and Participating. So to provide the basic needs but the best available, to protect from harm or abuse but mostly and I feel most important is participation, to make sure that the child, children or young people are fully aware of their rights, and to ensure that their views are listened to by adults. (Alderson, 2004, Pg 98)
• Best outcome based ethics
This means working out the best way of reducing things like costs and any harm that might occur but is also there to promote the benefits. This was addressed in a journal by Barbara Dennis when she did her research into pupils who were in and English speaking school but whose first language wasn’t English and something that I will look at in more details further into this essay. (Alderson, 2004, Pg 98)
You need to avoid structuring your work so close to your course materials and rather than listing and describing, discuss it more analytically and applying this theory to research examples. Repeating information does not really demonstrate that you have understood the information indepth.
Alderson (2004) mentions that research should not be harmful to the research subject, but she states that this is not always the case in medical research. Medical research can sometimes be very dangerous and in the past has also killed or maimed a child. Social research is not known to kill ,but it can be very harmful if it is not carried out in the correct way with the appropriate measures being met. Again ethical issues should be at the forefront of the research process making sure that it is it carried out in a morally correct way. If this is not carried out it can result in false findings and policies that could potentially be harmful to the subject and damage lives. (Alderson, 2004, Pg 99) It is very hard for researchers to plan these ethical issues when dealing with research but it is a crucial part of it.
The Term Paper on Facial Expressions Children Subjects Mental
Interpreting Facial Expressions: A Cross-cultural and Developmental Study Abstract Various illustrations of faces created by Hockney and Velazquez were shown to subjects who were required to decide which was the most effective of two semantic opposites which described the characters mental state. The study challenges notions suggesting that young children from approximately the age of eight years ...
Next I would like to look at some of the specific ethical issues that researchers come across when they are planning a research study . I will try to look at each issue in more detail and try to explain why it should be taken into account when planning a research study.
Firstly, I shall consider informed consent, a process that informs the research subject of the intent of the research project, so risks, benefits and the requirements for the project are explained. Without all of the information the research participantsubject cannot make an informed consent. The research subject will then be asked for their consent to enter the project and asked to sign a consent form which will outline all of the above in writing. This should be provided in the first language of the research subject. Anonymity must be maintained for all subjects and information should be kept in the strictest confidence. Where children are deemed competent enough in their development then informed consent should be sort?? Sought? directly from the child. The problem is how much information you give to children or the child’s guardian, parent or gatekeeper. In Audio Band 3 on ethical research we hear a question and answer session between the interviewer and 4 researchers all who do research with Children and Young people. ,tThey talk about the problems with the gatekeepers where children are concerned, for example they have to know that although they have a right to say that the research can go ahead they cannot consent for that child. Also the gatekeeper can have the say on who the researcher has access to. (EK310, CD2, Audio Band 3, 2004)
The next section I want to be examined is the risk to benefits ratio. Research should not cause harm to the research particpantsubject in any way at all, whether that be physical or psychological. EI feel that every researcher when planning a research project should make sure of this, it is their moral obligation to that child or young person. Researchers should also make sure where possible that the situation is one of little stress and should never belittle the subject. RI don’t think that researchers should never willingly deceive a research subject . Wbut when listening to the conversation on audio band 3 again, one of the questions asked was ‘is it ever justified to deceive a child?’, Iit was clear that they all felt that there has to be a trust between the researcher and the research subject, but there are certain situations where deceit has to take place. For example in medical research on certain drugs sometimes there is a placebo and a real drug, in order for the research to take place the subject cannot be told that they are receiving the real drug or the placebo. So although this is a deception of the subject, it is a risk that has to be taken to obtain the benefits. This can however be dealt with ethically using a double blind study where both the researcher and the participant are blind to what drug is being given and the participant is aware of the fact that it could be either a placebo or an active substance.
The Research paper on Parental Presence: A Research on its Effect on Child Development
Parents are considered a blessing to man from God as they are responsible for who one grows up to be. It is a common belief that one’s behavior and demeanor is a reflection of their parent. In recent times, there has been an increase in number of cases relating to juvenile delinquency among youths. The society is said to be degenerate and morality is just a theoretical principle. The society ...
Next to be I shall considered is the participant’s rights to withdraw. Every child or young person or in fact anyone who is a research subject has the right to refuse to take part at any stage of the research project. They have the right not to be coerced into continuing in the project even if this is to cause conflict or problems. If you are raising this as a point with respect to ethical planning it needs to be developed further to be relevant to the overall discussion relating to your TMA question.
When it comes to dissemination the outcome of the research paper should be shown to all the participants prior to its publication. Where the participant is maybe too young to read and understand the paper the findings should be shown to the child’s parent, guardian or gatekeeper. They then should be free to make sure that this paper or project is conducted without harm or offence to the subject. This is a crucial part of the research project and especially an ethical part as once the research paper is published it is free to be read or used by anyone. In some cases in the past, as we heard on the audio question and answer session on audio band 3, research papers have been blow up and exaggerated by journalist who have then re-written a piece in their own words. (EK310, CD2, Audio Band 3, 2004) In such cases the affects could be very harmful to the research subject, so it is imperative that all the checks to safeguard the research subject have been thought about during the research planning to eradicate such adverse effects. True, however, actions can also be taken at the dissemination stage whereby the media is kept abreast of the research throughout and the relationship with the journalist communicating the information leads to a better understanding of the findings rather than a sensationalist headline. The researcher is accountable insofar as ensuring that the findings are communicated in a positive and supportive way so they cannot be misconstrued and be harmful.
The Research paper on Research project
Juveniles may well be the most maligned age around in our society myths abound about their contribution to crime and the extent of damage for which they are responsible. The ones who are involved in delinquent behavior are young youths between the ages of 18 – 21 years. According to the study done by the Citizen Television (TV) on June 2012, young boys between the age of 15 yrs to 18 yrs are ...
After looking in more details at the ethical issues that arise when researchers are planning their projects it became clear that it can be extremely difficult to make sure all the issues that could arise ethically are addressed and sometimes these issues arise once the project has already started. After reading through a few research papers and journals it became clear to me that aAll researchers are different and will go about their research planning in different ways using different methods. But as Alderson mentions in reader B (2004) ‘ethics can become an annoying extra that has to be thought about after a project has been put together. (Alderson, 2004, pg 101) this comment has been taken out of context!
After reading through the journal by Barbara Dennis (2009) she wrote this journal about the difficulties faced by students who are new language learners (ELL’s).
They were students who had come to an English speaking school but whose first language was not English. She looked at three schools that were the strongest candidates: a primary school, a middle school and a high school, but in the end most of the data came from the high school in 2002. To help her with her research she enrolled the help of several students who had different backgrounds from different cultures and who spoke the same languages of the students that were involved in the project. She obtained informed consent from several different groups that were to be involved in the study, this included teachers, white students, administrators, new language learner (ELL’s) students and their parents. Before the project started they knew that they would intervene when they thought this would be beneficial, but she made sure that the ethical principles in such intervening were correct and the right thing to do.This is a bit inaccurate, as this was what became the result of the study. She felt that there were going to be two ways of intervening one was inclusive and the other was exclusive. In her first example of an inclusive intervention she talks about a conversation between some teachers in the staff room where they were talking about the group of Hispanic students saying that they wished they weren’t here as they didn’t want them, and also they were referred to as the new blacks. They did not mention the other non speaking students such as Japanese or Arabic speaking students it seem to be aimed purely at the Latino students.
The Research paper on Portfolio Management of Research Projects
1 Introduction More and more, organizations rely on research projects in order to stay updated on new technologies, processes and practices on their fields. Through them, they remain ahead in the competition and sustain their competitive advantages. This is specially the case for organizations that are on the top of their industry and which other organizations follow closely to benchmark their ...
Dennis felt that she could not just sit and listen to this focus group but had to intervene, ‘she called into the question the rightness of the statement’ (Dennis, 2009) This was an inclusive intervention because she made sure that the teachers in the focus group could all be included in the discussion. Another example where the team intervened was when one of the research team was asked to act as an interpreter at a parents evening. The teacher was passing on comments that the interpreter thought were rude and a little disrespectful and so passed on the information but in a kinder and more civilised manner. After reading this I questioned whether this was ethically right as the annoyance and sternness of the teacher was not passed on to the student’s parents this was not an inclusive intervention. You need to elaborate as to the ethics of this situation. Even Dennis herself questioned the ethical risk in this case. Another example which I felt opinion! was not ethically right was when the assistant principle had caught two Latino girls in the hall out of class who had said they were with the researcher but were clearly not. The researcher took the side of the girls and told the principle that they had been.
The Essay on Research Summary and Ethical Considerations
In an essay of 750-1,000 words, summarize the study, explain the ways in which the findings might be used in nursing practice, and address any ethical considerations associated with the conduct of the study. Refer to Resource Research Summary and Ethical Considerations Guidelines for suggested headings for your paper. Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style ...
This was done as they wanted to gain the trust of these students who were already not being made welcome within the school, may be this could be deemed beneficial to the project. Throughout her journal Dennis came across several instances where ethics were pushed and intervention was sometime ethically risky. But the outcome of her journal did see changes for the good in the school. Although I felt that Dennis had done all she could to make sure that her research was going to be as ethically correct as it could be beforehand she was not always prepared for people’s own ethics and beliefs and sometimes this challenged the whole project. Your approach to this reading is largely descriptive and you provide you opinions rather than analyses. You need to consider the incidences you describe and discuss them within the framework of research ethics and how this lead Dennis to consider the ethical frameworks that interact within a research project, ie. those relating to personal ethical stances and those of the project and the need to coordinate approaches when multiple researcher’s are involved. It is also indicative of the need to consider potential incidences that may emerge within particular research settings and not to go in naively expecting all to run smoothly.
The research paper by Samantha Punch (2004) carried out in Bolivia where she lived amongst her research participantssubjects was well constructed but I did shave to sometimes demonstrate questionable the ethics in this paper to. During her three months living with the community she befriended the people and would often sit and chat to them as we would with people within our communities. But I felt that Punch found it hard to switch off from being a researcher and yet friendly chats between her and the people would still be noted in her research. One needsBut I had to question whether these people would have realised that these private chats were still going to be included in her study. Were the rights of these people being compromised and their rights to withdraw a little lost? Punch herself even admitted in her research paper that she did feel sometimes she was manipulating the people a little to obtain good data and again I had to question if this was ethically right or could this have lead to a potentially harmful situation. Again Punch came across a similar situation in her study where she came across some children, who were fishing, but they were supposed to be watching the cow, they asked her not to say anything to the adults and she promised not to do so as she was building a relationship with these children.
Again oneI hasd to question if this was ethically right to do? Now you need to take this analyses further and discuss its ethical implications and what it illustrates about the need for planning for research ethics. Another instance where I had to question the ethics of this paper was when she was in the classrooms, she had befriended the teachers and was a frequent observer in the class room. Punch(2004) as previously mention had tried to get down to the children’s level but there were occasions where the teachers asked her to take over the class. Could she still be at the children’s level and be in charge of their class? I think this is impossible. Although I liked reading through Punch’s research I did feel there were gaps in the planning and especially the ethical planning of the project. I did not see any evidence of consent or indeed of shared dissemination. You demonstrate that you understand Punch (2004), but need to approach it analytically rather than descriptively
Throughout, this essay hasI have tried to explored the ethical issues when planning a research project. I have read two very interesting papers which had come up against ethical issues in both their projects. In Barbara Dennis’s paper was it ethically right to intervene? I feel opinion that although she followed as many procedures as she could before hand to make sure this was a good ethical research project, she could not plan for people’s feelings as we saw when the researcher would not interpret what the teacher had said to the Japanese student’s parents because she felt it was rude. And in Samantha Punch’s research paper was it ethically right to befriend these people and manipulate them for data reasons. I understand that when researchers plan a project it is very hard to think of all the ethical issues that will arise and sometimes issues arise once the project has already started. Today we have ethics committees where the papers should be sent for them to check through and this can be a lengthy process that could delay a project and some researchers see this as a hindrance and in fact ethics themselves come as an afterthought to some researchers and that ethical issues are sometimes brushed to one side in order to obtain the data that the researcher is so eager to find.
Overall, a solid essay that demonstrates that you have understood the fundamental issues underlying this TMA and you have utilised research examples to illustrate the points you raise, however, your approach to the research is largely descriptive and would benefit if you were to apply the theoretical frameworks of ethics to your readings and then relate this discussion back to the overall TMA question.
References
Alderson, P. (2004) ‘Ethics’ in Reader B S.Fraser, V. Lewis, S. Ding, M. Kellett, C. Robinson (eds.) (2004) ‘Doing Research with Children and Young People. London: ’ Sage Publications , London in association with the Open University.
Dennis, B. (2009) What does it mean when and ethnographer intervenes? Ethnography and Education,4 (2), 131-146.
EK310, Research with Children and Young People CD 2 Audio Band : Ethical Research (2004) The Open University Milton Keynes
Punch, S. (2004) ‘Negotiating Autonomy: Childrens Use of Time and Space in Rural Bolivia’ Reader A V. Lewis et al (2004) ‘The Reality of Research with Children and Young People’ Sage Publications, London in association with the Open University.
