Ethics in Research

Throughout this research course we have learned about various research methods and examined various studies to see how those methods are used in educational research. Foundational to all of that is the concept of ethics. Most people are fairly familiar with the idea of ethics, both in their private lives and in their professional ones. Teachers, for instance, are very aware of the ethical requirement of speaking to the person with whom one has a problem, instead of to others. In research, however, ethics are at the front and centre of all that is done. Various experiments through past decades, while informative, illustrate clearly why the strict ethical guidelines we have in place today were devised. Stanley Milgram’s psychology experiments on obedience wonderfully show how deceiving participants can produce valuable results, but cause potentially long-lasting trauma in those people. Milgram felt that the deception was necessary to authentically observe how people would react. However, the experience of obeying against their better instincts made most people incredibly uncomfortable - some to the point of tears and high anxiety. Another famously disturbing study, The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, involved purposely infecting healthy African-American men with syphilis to observe the results (see this article). Again, the information provided was valuable to scientists, but at enormous cost. While it may be more time consuming to collect the necessary data in a more humane manner, providing informed consent to all participants ensures that they are not harmed - or killed! - in the pursuit of knowledge.

Understandably, researchers now feel that the risks associated with this sort of deception are too great for the general population, and thus the ethical controls limiting participants’ physical or emotional risk. Interestingly, I read an article by a young researcher who was studying the world of female gamblers. She explained that even in a seemingly risk-free ethnography, ethical dilemmas arose. The researcher knew that if she announced her purpose to the female gamblers, they would not see her as one of their own and would be much less likely to honestly communicate their experiences. Posing as one of their own would provide infinitely more valuable research, but was a violation of the subjects’ ethical rights - whether they knew it or not. Maintaining ethical well-being requires delicacy and balance.

For that reason, we have spent much of our research methods course examining ethics. I’m currently putting together a proposal for research at my school on parent participation in the classroom. The ethics considerations are...considerable! Every possible risk must be examined and then brought to the attention of the participants. It seems like overkill in many ways, but looking back at studies over the decades highlights why such onerous protocols are in place. This is the ultimate place to say, “Better safe than sorry!”