This edited collection focuses on the virtue theory and the ethics of social science research.

This edited collection focuses on the virtue theory and the ethics of social science research.

Providing theoretical grounding, case studies and practical solutions, Implementing Ethics in Educational Ethnography examines how researchers can overcome ethical dilemmas associated with and encountered during ethnographic research. From the initial stages of research design such as consideration from regulatory bodies, through research occurring in the field to project completion and reporting, it explores many of the factors associated with ensuring culturally sensitive and ethical studies. The book covers key questions including: What can researchers expect of ethical review boards? Where and with whom should dialogue take place about ethicality within research? What effect does a research focus have on regulation and research practice? What is the effect of context on ethical practices? Does the positionality of a researcher have an effect on ethical practices? How do we ensure that ethicality supports the trustworthiness of research projects? Using a range of international case studies, Implementing Ethics in Educational Ethnography provides researchers and students with invaluable details about how to navigate the field, ensuring that they can sustain good ethical practice throughout the life of a research project. Chapter 6 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/tandfbis/rt-files/docs/Open+Access+Chapters/9781138580237_oachapter6.pdf

Thinking Critically and Ethically about Research for Education draws on the experiences of a range of researchers in the discipline to explore the lived realities, including ethical and methodological complexities, involved in undertaking educational research. Using global case studies, this book examines the meaning of ethical research practice and raises questions about representation, power and empowerment in the field. It provides critical reflections from researchers, reviewing the methodologies they used in their studies and the ethical implications of these in theory and practice. The book highlights the various difficulties and realities present in education research and provides researchers with the tools necessary for refining their skills and understanding ethical research methodologies. The chapters reflect authors’ responses to the following questions: What values prompted you to do this work and how did you share these with participants? What were the ethical considerations raised beforehand and how were these tackled in terms of meeting obligations (including to ERBs), maximising benefits and dealing with issues arising during the study and through to publication? What does ‘empowerment’ and/or ‘voice’ mean to you as a researcher and how did you express this to your participants? In what ways were the participants given opportunities to be empowered in or through your study? With critical discussions on ethics and research practices in education research, this book is ideal for student, novice and experienced researchers looking to undertake ethical education research.

Methodological Concepts: A Critical Guide clarifies many key terms and issues in social research methodology. It outlines the conventional meanings of these terms, but also addresses their contentious character. The aim is to offer interpretations of them that provide a coherent conception of the nature of social science. This book is premised on the idea that more clarity about the meaning of major methodological concepts is essential, and that the disagreements which pervade the field must be addressed. Numerous key terms are discussed across 13 chapters, including ‘methodology’, ‘method’, ‘inquiry’, ‘research’, ‘science’, ‘truth’, ‘fact’, ‘rigour’, ‘bias’, ‘objectivity’, ‘data’, ‘evidence’, ‘induction’, ‘deduction’, ‘abduction’, ‘understanding’, ‘explanation’, ‘reflexivity’, ‘triangulation’, ‘theory’, and ‘researcher integrity’. These concepts have been implicated in fundamental divisions among social scientists, exemplified by the ‘paradigm wars’ of the past few decades. The chapters of this book provide an overview of the various meanings given to these terms, whilst also offering distinctive interpretations designed to provide a sound basis for social research. Methodological Concepts: A Critical Guide will be of great use to any student or researcher working in the social sciences.

This handbook provides an in-depth exploration of the entire journey of postgraduate research in the social and behavioural sciences, from enrolment to its culmination in the form of a thesis, dissertation or portfolio, and beyond. It is written in an accessible and example-rich style, offering practical and concrete advice in virtually all areas. It also includes references to additional resources and websites, and each chapter features key recommendations for improving the postgraduate research experience. The book addresses not only research-related aspects (e.g. supervisors; selecting your guiding assumptions; contextualising, framing and configuring research; reviewing literature; sampling; writing proposals; ethics and academic integrity; selecting a data gathering strategy; surviving your thesis/dissertation/portfolio examination; and publishing), but also questions concerning how to integrate, manage, and balance the research journey in the context of the postgraduate student’s broader life-world (e.g. skill development and supervisor relations; effective time and project management; a healthy work–life balance; maintaining motivation; and dealing with criticism). The book adopts an explicitly pluralist perspective on postgraduate research, moving beyond mixed methods thinking, and offers concrete examples from postgraduate students’ real-world experiences.

Ethics and integrity in research are increasingly important for social scientists around the world. We are tackling more complex problems in the face of expanding and not always sympathetic regulation. This book surveys the recent developments and debates around researching ethically and with integrity and complying with ethical requirements. The new edition pushes beyond the work of the first edition through updated and extended coverage of issues relating to international, indigenous, interdisciplinary and internet research. Through case studies and examples drawn from all continents and from across the social science disciplines, the book: demonstrates the practical value of thinking seriously and systematically about ethical conduct in social science research identifies how and why current regulatory regimes have emerged reveals those practices that have contributed to the adversarial relationships between researchers and regulators encourages all parties to develop shared solutions to ethical and regulatory problems.

Ethics and integrity in research are increasingly important for social scientists around the world. We are tackling more complex problems in the face of expanding and not always sympathetic regulation. This book surveys the recent developments and debates around researching ethically and with integrity and complying with ethical requirements. The new edition pushes beyond the work of the first edition through updated and extended coverage of issues relating to international, indigenous, interdisciplinary and internet research. Through case studies and examples drawn from all continents and from across the social science disciplines, the book: demonstrates the practical value of thinking seriously and systematically about ethical conduct in social science research identifies how and why current regulatory regimes have emerged reveals those practices that have contributed to the adversarial relationships between researchers and regulators encourages all parties to develop shared solutions to ethical and regulatory problems.

Recent scandals and controversies, such as data fabrication in federally funded science, data manipulation and distortion in private industry, and human embryonic stem cell research, illustrate the importance of ethics in science. Responsible Conduct of Research, now in a completely updated second edition, provides an introduction to the social, ethical, and legal issues facing scientists today.

This handbook is a much-needed and in-depth review of the distinctive set of ethical considerations which accompanies qualitative research. This is particularly crucial given the emergent, dynamic and interactional nature of most qualitative research, which too often allows little time for reflection on the important ethical responsibilities and obligations Contributions from leading international researchers have been carefully organised into six key thematic sections: Part One: Thick Descriptions Of Qualitative Research Ethics Part Two: Qualitative Research Ethics By Technique Part Three: Ethics As Politics Part Four: Qualitative Research Ethics With Vulnerable Groups Part Five: Relational Research Ethics Part Six: Researching Digitally This Handbook is a one-stop resource on qualitative research ethics across the social sciences that draws on the lessons learned and the successful methods for surmounting problems – the tried and true, and the new.