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Shades of grey in field research: Concealment, consent and the mobilities of qualitative inquiry

Peter Lugosi, PhD

Introduction

• Ethics and ethical approaches

• Covert research and covert methods (in principle)

• Mobilities

• Mobilities in qualitative inquiry: Revelation, concealment and consent (in practice)

Considering why ethics are important?

1. Moral reasons

2. Instrumental reasons

3. Pragmatic reasons

Respectfor persons

and autonomy

JusticeFair distribution

of benefits; fairness ofprocesses

Fidelity andscientificintegrity

TrustOpen, honest,

inclusive relationships

Beneficenceand

nonmaleficence

EthicalPrinciples

Following Brewster Smith (2000)

Ethics as a prism

http://mirror-uk-rb1.gallery.hd.org/_exhibits/natural-science/prism-and-refraction-of-light-into-rainbow-AJHD.jpg

Ethics as a prism: Illumination or distortion?

TrustJustice

BeneficenceNonmaleficence

Respect for autonomyFidelity and integrity

Research aims and objectivesMethodsRelationshipsParticipantsOutcomesAudienceRisks/benefits/contributions

ReshapedResearch aims and objectivesMethodsRelationshipsParticipantsOutcomesAudienceRisks/benefits/contributions

Resolutions

• Systematise/rationalise research (Contractual relationships? Danger of “ethical deskilling? Dingwall, 1980)

• Communitarian(-ism) (Christians, 2000; Denzin, 1997)

• Reflexivity

• Ignore, deny, conceal

Ethical approaches, covert research and covert methods

(in principle)

Ethics and covert research: competing perspectives

• Ethical idealism and institutional rules vs pragmatism and utilitarianism

• Absolutist vs processual perspectives on covert research

• Covert research – a distinct and consistent strategy?

• Covert methods – fieldwork involving some element of concealment

Locating and establishing types of covert research

• Active covert research

• Passive covert research

• Covertness/covert methods in overt research

Covert research (the literature)

• Methodological, ethical, professional critiques

• Emotional and psychological costs

• Troubling cases as points of reference (Milgram, Humphreys etc)

• Institutionally and professionally divisive term

Ethical approaches, covert research and covert methods

(in practice)

Mobilities and the field

ie. the spatial nature of research

Mobilities ofrelationships

Mobilities of the research

Mobilities of the self

MOBILITIES Movement, Moorings,

Connections,Drivers/forces of restriction

See John Urry, Mimi Sheller and Kevin Hannam

Space and places of research

• Contexts for concealment and disclosure

• Relationships and/or encounters

• Spatial proximities

• Private and public spaces…and all in between

Explanations and cooperation

• Abrupt, incremental and indirect disclosure (see Lugosi, 2006)

• Clarity and adequacy of explanation (researching...studying...writing)

• Routines, spiels and scripts

• Maintaining informed consent over time

Relationships, affiliations and obligations

• Social and cultural proximities (e.g. class, gender, sexuality, likes/dislikes etc and relationships)

• Friends, colleagues, informants, participants, respondents or subjects?

• Revelations and confessions

• Co-creation (ideals and limitations)

Selves and the development of the study

• Exploratory research

• Motivations and (in)authentic selves

“To see is to share, to look is to take, to watch is to steal”

• New day, new research

Analysing, interpreting and communicating findings

• Challenges of publishing

• Anticipating feedback and reactions

• Implications of research and interpretation

Closing thoughts

Ethics as intellectual inquiry, institutional practice or a critical prism

It can be destructive and a threat: creating unnecessary boundaries and obstacles

It can also be a constructive process and opportunity: encouraging rigour and nuanced understanding of the research process, its stakeholders and outcomes

Questions of ethics are increasingly unavoidable

Closing thoughts

• Dangers of viewing research as a rational and stable process

• The (cliché of the) overt-covert “continuum”

• The forces/factors that move research from one end to the other

• Not either/or but both/and: all we have are shades of grey

• Be aware of institutional discourses; use existing literature/cases, consult with a range of colleagues, peers and “participants” and use these encounters as points of reference to develop your “moral career”

Questions?

Further reading

Beauchamp, T., Faden, R., Wallace, J., & Walters, L. (Eds.). (1982). Ethical issues in social scientific research. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

Bulmer, M. (ed.) (1982) Social Research Ethics: An Examination of the Merits of Covert Participant Observation, London: Macmillan.

Brewster Smith (2000) Moral foundations in research with human participants. In B. Sales and S. Folkman (Eds.), Ethics in Research with Human Participants (pp. 3-10). Washington: APA.

Christians, C. G. (2000). Ethics and politics in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.) (pp. 133-155). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

de Laine, M. (2000) Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research. London: Sage.

Duncombe, J., & Jessop, J. (2002). ‘Doing rapport’ and ethics of ‘faking friendship.’ In M. Mauthner, M. Birch, J. Jessop, & T. Miller (Eds.), Ethics in qualitative research (pp. 107-122). London: Sage.

Finch, J. (1984). It’s great to have someone to talk to: The ethics and politics of interviewing women. In C. Bell, & H. Roberts (Eds.), Social researching: Politics, problems, practice (pp. 70-87). London: Routledge.

Herrera, C. D. (1999). Two arguments for ‘covert research’ in social research. British Journal of Sociology, 50(2), 331-341.

Herrera, C. D. (2003). A clash of methodology and ethics in ‘undercover’ social science. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 33(3), 351-362.

Further reading

Homan, R. (1991) The Ethics of Social Research. London: Longman.

Kimmel, A. J. (1996). Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research: A survey. Oxford: Blackwell.

Leo, R. A. (1995). Trial and tribulations: Courts, ethnography, and the need for an evidentiary privilege for academic researchers. The American Sociologist, 26(1), 113-134.

Lugosi, P. (2006) Between overt and covert research: Concealment and revelation in an ethnographic Study of commercial hospitality. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(3), 541-561.

Lugosi, P. (2008) Covert research. In L. Given (Ed.) SAGE Encyclopaedia of qualitative research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Oakes, J. M. (2002). Risks and wrongs in social science research: An evaluator’s guide to the IRB. Evaluation Review, 26(5), 443-479.

Punch, M. (1986). The Politics and Ethics of Fieldwork. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Punch, M. (1994). Politics and ethics in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 83-97). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Qualitative Inquiry (2007) Special issue on research ethics Volume 13, Number 3 (This journal has several other articles on the subject)

Shaffir, W. B. and Stebbins, R. A. (eds.) (1991) Experiencing Fieldwork: An Inside View of Qualitative Research, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.