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Minimizing Harm in the Context of Educational Research: An Ethical Issue

Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 147 - 157, 30.04.2021

Abstract

Ethics is considered as one of the critical skills in social sciences, especially in disciplines such as education involving children and adult participants. The longstanding concerns and debates on ethics in educational research demonstrate that harms and risks for both researchers and participants, which may occur any time during the research process, have not been adequately researched. Ethical concerns often remain at the level of physical and psychological harm that can occur in the classroom setting and focus on plagiarism issues. However, the financial support needed by the researcher in order to carry out the research creates ethical obligations towards the institutions that provide this resource and may lead to some dilemmas. In this study, the harms that the research may cause are considered in the context of ethics, and the possible harms/risks that the researchers and participants may face are re-evaluated as an ethical dilemma. Physical harm/risk, psychological or emotional harm/risk, financial or economic harm/risk, reputational harm/risk, legal harm/risk, and not to benefit-risk are discussed within the scope of research in educational sciences and the suggestions to avoid the risk of harm were made. As a result, possible ethical dilemmas that may arise during the research process are examined, and the situations where the concept of harm cannot be addressed in a single context are indicated by taking informed consent as a reference. In order to meet ethical requirements, it was emphasized that at the beginning of the research, the researcher should rigorously evaluate the risk/harm scenarios, and the precautions that could be taken against possible harms should be determined. These measures will minimize the exposure of both the researcher and the participants to any risk or harm in the later stages of the research.

References

  • Alderson, P., & Morrow, V. (2014). The Ethics of Research with Children and Young People: A Practical Handbook. London: SAGE.
  • Banegas, D. L. (2015). A look at ethical issues in action research in Education. Agentinian journal of applied linguistics, 3(1), 58-67.
  • Banegas, D. L., & Castro, L. S. (2015). A look at ethical issues in action research in education. Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 58-67.
  • Beals, R. L. (2005). Politics of Social Research (2nd b.). Baltimore: Transaction Books/Aldine.
  • BERA. (2018). Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research . Brisitish Educational Research Association.
  • Biber, K., & Luker, T. (2016). Evidence and the archive: Ethics, aesthetics and emotion. Philadelphia: Routledge.
  • Bloor, M., Fincham, B., & Sampson, H. (2010). Unprepared for the Worst: Risks of Harm for Qualitative Researchers. Methodological Innovations Online, 5(1), 45-55.
  • Bourke, R., & Loveridge, H. (2014). Exploring informed consent and dissent through children's participation in educational research. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 37(2), 151-165.
  • Bourke, R., Loveridge, H., O'Neill, J., Erueti, B., & Jamieson, A. (2017). A sociocultural analysis of the ethics of involving children in educational research. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(3), 259-271.
  • Bradley, M. (2007). Silenced for their own protection: How the IRB marginalizes those it feigns to protect. ACME International Journal for Critical Geographies, 6, 339-349.
  • Brittain, S., Ibbett, H., Lange, E., Dorward, L., Hoyte, S., Marino, A., . . . Lewis, J. (2020). Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people. Conservation Biology, 34(4), 925-933.
  • Brooks, R., te Riele, K., & Maguire, M. (2014). Ethics and Educational Research. London: SAGE.
  • Burgess, R. G. (1989). Grey areas: Ethical dilemmas in educational ethnography. R. G. Burgess içinde, The Ethics of Educational Research (s. 60-76). Falmer Press.
  • Bussu, S., Lalani, M., Pattison, S., & Marshall, M. (2020). Engaging with care: ethical issues in Participatory Research. Qualitative Research, 00(0), 1-19.
  • Coady, C. (2005). Preface. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 22(2), 101-104.
  • Cronin-Furman, K., & Lake, M. (2018). Ethics abroad: fieldwork in fragile and violent contexts. PS - Political Science and Politics, 51, 607-614.
  • de Laine, M. (2000). Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
  • Dickson, W., & Roethlisberger, F. (2003). Management and the Worker. London: Routledge.
  • Dixon, S., & Quirke, L. (2018). What's the Harm? The Coverage of Ethics and Harm Avoidance in Research Methods Textbooks. Teaching Sociology, 46(1), 12-24.
  • Duggan, C., & Bush, K. (2014). The ethical tipping points of evaluators in conflict zones. American Journal of Evaluation, 35(4), 485-506.
  • Eren, A. (2018). Türk Yükseköğretim Etik Mevzuatının Hukuki Değerlendirmesi. Haliç Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 1, 1-46.
  • Farrimond, H. (2013). Doing Ethical Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Farrimond, H. R. (2017). Ethics of research. D. Wyse, E. Smith, L. E. Suter, & N. Selwyn içinde, The BERA/SAGE Handbook of Educational Research. London, New York: SAGE.
  • Favaretto, M., De Clercq, E., Gaab, J., & Elger, B. S. (2020). First do no harm: An exploration of researchers' ethics of conduct in Big Data behavioral studies. PLOS ONE, 1-23.
  • Fendler, L. (2016). Ethical implications of validity-vs.-reliability trade-offs in educational research. Ethics and Education, 11(2), 214-229.
  • Guillemin, M., & Heggen, K. (2008). Rapport and respect: Negotiating ethical relations between researcher and participant. Medicine Health Care and Philosophy, 12(3), 291-299.
  • Hammersley, M., & Traianou, A. (2011). Moralism and research ethics: a Machiavellian perspective. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 14(5), 379-390.
  • Hammersley, M., & Traianou, A. (2012). British Educational Research Association. 03 22, 2014 tarihinde http://www.bera.ac.uk/resources/ethics-and-educational-research adresinden alındı
  • Head, G. (2018). Ethics in educational research: Review boards, ethical issues and researcher development. European Educational Research Journal, 1-12.
  • Ibbett, H., & Brittain, S. (2019). Conservation publications and their provisions to protect research participants. Conservation Biology, 34, 80-92.
  • Kling, S. (2018). Is publishing children’s medical information and photographs ethical? Current Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 31(1), 41-44.
  • Lindorff, M. (2010). Ethics, Ethical Human Research and Human Research Ethics Committees. Australian Universities' Review, 52(1), 51-59.
  • Linkogle, S., & Lee-Treweek, H. (2000). Danger in the field: ethics and risk in social research. London: Routledge.
  • Locatelli, R. (2018). Education as a public and common good: reframing the governance of education in a changing context. Education, research and foresight: working papers, 1-17.
  • Lopez-Alvarado, J. (2016). Educational Research: Educational purposes, the nature of knowledge and ethical issues. International Journal of research and education, 2(1), 1-5.
  • Maglio, F., & Pherali, T. (2020). Ethical reflections on children's participation in educational research during humanitarian crises. Research Ethics, 16(1-2), 1-19.
  • Makocho, P. (2019). The Ethical Dimension in Educational Research: A Dilemma? International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 3(8), 183-190.
  • Marks, M., & Abdelhalim, J. (2018). Introduction: identity, jeopardy and moral dilemmas in conducting research in ‘risky’ environments. Contemporary Social Science, 13(3-4), 305-322.
  • Mella, P., & Gazzola, P. (2015). Ethics builds reputation. International Journal of Markets and Business Systems, 1(1), 38-52.
  • Nutbrown, C. (2010). Naked by the Pool? Blurring the Image? Ethical Issues in the Portrayal of Young Children in Arts-Based Educational Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(1), 3-14.
  • Ogundele, M. O., Gyot, B. D., & Bwoi, G. M. (2016). Towards Resolving Ethical Issues for Enhancing Research Integrity in Nigerian Education. Journal of multidisciplinary research, 3(15), 167-171.
  • Opsal, T., Wolgemuth, J., Cross, J., Kaanta, T., Dickmann, E., Colomer, S., & Erdil-Moody, Z. (2015). “There Are No Known Benefits . . .”: Considering the Risk/Benefit Ratio of Qualitative Research. Qualitative Health Research, 1-14.
  • O'Reilly, M., Ponzoni, P., & Dogra, N. (2013). Research with Children: Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications.
  • Patterson, D. (2008). Research ethics boards as spaces of marginalization: A Canadian story. Qualitative Inquirt, 14, 18-27.
  • Penn, R., & Soothill, K. (2007). Ethical issues in social inquiry: the enemy within? Qualitative Researcher, 6.
  • Perry, J. E. (2011). Managing moral distress: a strategy for resolving ethical dilemmas. Business Horizons, 54, 393-397.
  • Peters, M. A., White, E. J., Besley, T., Locke, K., Redder, B., Novak, R., . . . Sturm, S. (2020). Video ethics in educational research involving children: Literature review and critical discussion. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1-18.
  • Rachels, J. (1993). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (2nd b.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Richardson, T. (2019). ‘Why haven’t I got one of those?’ A consideration regarding the need to protect non-participant children in early years research. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(1), 5-14.
  • Ryen, A. (2012). Assessing the risk of being interviewed. J. F. Gubrium, A. B. Marvasti, & K. D. McKinney içinde, The SAGE handbook of interview research: The complexity of the craft (s. 477-493). Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • Sedgwick, P., & Greenwood, N. (2015). Understanding the Hawthorne effect. BMJ (Online), 1-2.
  • Shawa, L. B. (2017). Ethics in educational research. L. Ramrathan, L. le Grange, & P. Higgs içinde, Education Studies for Initial Teacher Education (s. 432-443). Cape Town: Juta.
  • Sim, J. (2010). Addressing Conflicts in Research Ethics: Consent and Risk of Harm. Physiotherapy Research International, 15(2), 80-87.
  • Simons, H., & Usher, R. (2000). Situated Ethics in Educational Research. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Smith, J. (2016). Reflections on teaching research ethics in education for international postgraduate students in the UK. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(1), 94-105.
  • Standish, P. (2006). Data return: the place of given in educational research. M. McNamee, & D. Bridges (Dü) içinde, The Ethics of Educational Research. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Stokhof, M. J. (2018). Ethics and morality, principles and practice. Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie, 1(2), 1-14.
  • Tulyakul, P., & Meepring, S. (2020). Ethical Issues of Informed Consent: Students as Participants in Faculty Research. Global Journal of Health Science, 12(3), 86-90.
  • Vanclay, F., Baines, J. T., & Taylor, C. N. (2013). Principles for ethical research involving humans: ethical professional practice in impact assessment Part I. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 31(4), 243-253.
  • Velardo, S., & Elliot, S. (2018). Prioritising doctoral students’ wellbeing in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 23(2), 311-318.
  • Von Essen, E., Hansen, H. P., Nordström Kallström, H., Peterson, M. N., & Peterson, T. R. (2014). Deconstructing the poaching phenomenon. British Journal of Criminology, 54, 632-651.
  • Welland, T., & Pugsley, L. (2002). Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Eğitim Araştırması Bağlamında Zararı En Aza İndirgemek: Bir Etik Meselesi

Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 147 - 157, 30.04.2021

Abstract

Etik, sosyal bilimlerde özellikle çocuk ve yetişkin katılımcıların yer aldığı eğitim benzeri disiplinlerde anahtar becerilerden biri olarak kabul edilmektedir. Eğitim araştırmalarında etik konusunda uzun zamandır devam eden endişeler ve tartışmalar, katılımcıların ve araştırmacıların araştırma sürecinde uğrayabilecekleri zararın yeterince araştırılmadığını göstermektedir. Etik endişeler, genellikle sınıf ortamında oluşabilecek fiziksel ve psikolojik hasar seviyesinde kalmakta ve/veya araştırmacıların intihal yapıp yapmadığı noktasında yoğunlaşmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, araştırmanın yürütülebilmesi için araştırmacının ihtiyaç duyduğu finansman desteği, bu kaynağı sağlayan kuruluşlara karşı etik yükümlülükler doğurmakta ve bazı ikilemlere yol açabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, araştırmanın yaratabileceği zararlar etik bağlamında ele alınarak araştırmacıların ve katılımcıların uğrayabileceği olası zararlar/riskler etik bir ikilem olarak yeniden değerlendirilmiştir. Fiziksel zarar/risk, psikolojik veya duygusal zarar/risk, ticari veya ekonomik zarar/risk, itibar zarar/riski, yasal zarar/risk ve faydalanamama, eğitim bilimlerinde yapılan araştırmalar kapsamında tartışılmış ve zarar riskinin nasıl değerlendirilmesi gerektiğine dair öneriler sunulmuştur. Sonuç olarak, ortaya çıkabilecek muhtemel ikilemler incelenmiş ve zarardan kaçınma ile bilgilendirilmiş onam referans alınarak zarar kavramının tek bir bağlamda ele alınamayacağı durumlar belirtilmiştir. Etik gereksinimleri karşılamak için, araştırmanın başlangıcında araştırmacının titizlikle risk/zarar durumlarını değerlendirmesi gerektiği ve olası zararlara karşı alınabilecek önlemlerin belirlenmesi gerektiğinin üzerinde durulmuştur. Bu önlemler gerek araştırmacının gerekse katılımcıların araştırmanın ilerleyen noktalarında herhangi bir risk veya zarara uğrama durumuyla karşılaşmasını en aza indirgeyecektir.

References

  • Alderson, P., & Morrow, V. (2014). The Ethics of Research with Children and Young People: A Practical Handbook. London: SAGE.
  • Banegas, D. L. (2015). A look at ethical issues in action research in Education. Agentinian journal of applied linguistics, 3(1), 58-67.
  • Banegas, D. L., & Castro, L. S. (2015). A look at ethical issues in action research in education. Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 58-67.
  • Beals, R. L. (2005). Politics of Social Research (2nd b.). Baltimore: Transaction Books/Aldine.
  • BERA. (2018). Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research . Brisitish Educational Research Association.
  • Biber, K., & Luker, T. (2016). Evidence and the archive: Ethics, aesthetics and emotion. Philadelphia: Routledge.
  • Bloor, M., Fincham, B., & Sampson, H. (2010). Unprepared for the Worst: Risks of Harm for Qualitative Researchers. Methodological Innovations Online, 5(1), 45-55.
  • Bourke, R., & Loveridge, H. (2014). Exploring informed consent and dissent through children's participation in educational research. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 37(2), 151-165.
  • Bourke, R., Loveridge, H., O'Neill, J., Erueti, B., & Jamieson, A. (2017). A sociocultural analysis of the ethics of involving children in educational research. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(3), 259-271.
  • Bradley, M. (2007). Silenced for their own protection: How the IRB marginalizes those it feigns to protect. ACME International Journal for Critical Geographies, 6, 339-349.
  • Brittain, S., Ibbett, H., Lange, E., Dorward, L., Hoyte, S., Marino, A., . . . Lewis, J. (2020). Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people. Conservation Biology, 34(4), 925-933.
  • Brooks, R., te Riele, K., & Maguire, M. (2014). Ethics and Educational Research. London: SAGE.
  • Burgess, R. G. (1989). Grey areas: Ethical dilemmas in educational ethnography. R. G. Burgess içinde, The Ethics of Educational Research (s. 60-76). Falmer Press.
  • Bussu, S., Lalani, M., Pattison, S., & Marshall, M. (2020). Engaging with care: ethical issues in Participatory Research. Qualitative Research, 00(0), 1-19.
  • Coady, C. (2005). Preface. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 22(2), 101-104.
  • Cronin-Furman, K., & Lake, M. (2018). Ethics abroad: fieldwork in fragile and violent contexts. PS - Political Science and Politics, 51, 607-614.
  • de Laine, M. (2000). Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
  • Dickson, W., & Roethlisberger, F. (2003). Management and the Worker. London: Routledge.
  • Dixon, S., & Quirke, L. (2018). What's the Harm? The Coverage of Ethics and Harm Avoidance in Research Methods Textbooks. Teaching Sociology, 46(1), 12-24.
  • Duggan, C., & Bush, K. (2014). The ethical tipping points of evaluators in conflict zones. American Journal of Evaluation, 35(4), 485-506.
  • Eren, A. (2018). Türk Yükseköğretim Etik Mevzuatının Hukuki Değerlendirmesi. Haliç Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 1, 1-46.
  • Farrimond, H. (2013). Doing Ethical Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Farrimond, H. R. (2017). Ethics of research. D. Wyse, E. Smith, L. E. Suter, & N. Selwyn içinde, The BERA/SAGE Handbook of Educational Research. London, New York: SAGE.
  • Favaretto, M., De Clercq, E., Gaab, J., & Elger, B. S. (2020). First do no harm: An exploration of researchers' ethics of conduct in Big Data behavioral studies. PLOS ONE, 1-23.
  • Fendler, L. (2016). Ethical implications of validity-vs.-reliability trade-offs in educational research. Ethics and Education, 11(2), 214-229.
  • Guillemin, M., & Heggen, K. (2008). Rapport and respect: Negotiating ethical relations between researcher and participant. Medicine Health Care and Philosophy, 12(3), 291-299.
  • Hammersley, M., & Traianou, A. (2011). Moralism and research ethics: a Machiavellian perspective. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 14(5), 379-390.
  • Hammersley, M., & Traianou, A. (2012). British Educational Research Association. 03 22, 2014 tarihinde http://www.bera.ac.uk/resources/ethics-and-educational-research adresinden alındı
  • Head, G. (2018). Ethics in educational research: Review boards, ethical issues and researcher development. European Educational Research Journal, 1-12.
  • Ibbett, H., & Brittain, S. (2019). Conservation publications and their provisions to protect research participants. Conservation Biology, 34, 80-92.
  • Kling, S. (2018). Is publishing children’s medical information and photographs ethical? Current Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 31(1), 41-44.
  • Lindorff, M. (2010). Ethics, Ethical Human Research and Human Research Ethics Committees. Australian Universities' Review, 52(1), 51-59.
  • Linkogle, S., & Lee-Treweek, H. (2000). Danger in the field: ethics and risk in social research. London: Routledge.
  • Locatelli, R. (2018). Education as a public and common good: reframing the governance of education in a changing context. Education, research and foresight: working papers, 1-17.
  • Lopez-Alvarado, J. (2016). Educational Research: Educational purposes, the nature of knowledge and ethical issues. International Journal of research and education, 2(1), 1-5.
  • Maglio, F., & Pherali, T. (2020). Ethical reflections on children's participation in educational research during humanitarian crises. Research Ethics, 16(1-2), 1-19.
  • Makocho, P. (2019). The Ethical Dimension in Educational Research: A Dilemma? International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 3(8), 183-190.
  • Marks, M., & Abdelhalim, J. (2018). Introduction: identity, jeopardy and moral dilemmas in conducting research in ‘risky’ environments. Contemporary Social Science, 13(3-4), 305-322.
  • Mella, P., & Gazzola, P. (2015). Ethics builds reputation. International Journal of Markets and Business Systems, 1(1), 38-52.
  • Nutbrown, C. (2010). Naked by the Pool? Blurring the Image? Ethical Issues in the Portrayal of Young Children in Arts-Based Educational Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(1), 3-14.
  • Ogundele, M. O., Gyot, B. D., & Bwoi, G. M. (2016). Towards Resolving Ethical Issues for Enhancing Research Integrity in Nigerian Education. Journal of multidisciplinary research, 3(15), 167-171.
  • Opsal, T., Wolgemuth, J., Cross, J., Kaanta, T., Dickmann, E., Colomer, S., & Erdil-Moody, Z. (2015). “There Are No Known Benefits . . .”: Considering the Risk/Benefit Ratio of Qualitative Research. Qualitative Health Research, 1-14.
  • O'Reilly, M., Ponzoni, P., & Dogra, N. (2013). Research with Children: Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications.
  • Patterson, D. (2008). Research ethics boards as spaces of marginalization: A Canadian story. Qualitative Inquirt, 14, 18-27.
  • Penn, R., & Soothill, K. (2007). Ethical issues in social inquiry: the enemy within? Qualitative Researcher, 6.
  • Perry, J. E. (2011). Managing moral distress: a strategy for resolving ethical dilemmas. Business Horizons, 54, 393-397.
  • Peters, M. A., White, E. J., Besley, T., Locke, K., Redder, B., Novak, R., . . . Sturm, S. (2020). Video ethics in educational research involving children: Literature review and critical discussion. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1-18.
  • Rachels, J. (1993). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (2nd b.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Richardson, T. (2019). ‘Why haven’t I got one of those?’ A consideration regarding the need to protect non-participant children in early years research. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(1), 5-14.
  • Ryen, A. (2012). Assessing the risk of being interviewed. J. F. Gubrium, A. B. Marvasti, & K. D. McKinney içinde, The SAGE handbook of interview research: The complexity of the craft (s. 477-493). Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • Sedgwick, P., & Greenwood, N. (2015). Understanding the Hawthorne effect. BMJ (Online), 1-2.
  • Shawa, L. B. (2017). Ethics in educational research. L. Ramrathan, L. le Grange, & P. Higgs içinde, Education Studies for Initial Teacher Education (s. 432-443). Cape Town: Juta.
  • Sim, J. (2010). Addressing Conflicts in Research Ethics: Consent and Risk of Harm. Physiotherapy Research International, 15(2), 80-87.
  • Simons, H., & Usher, R. (2000). Situated Ethics in Educational Research. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Smith, J. (2016). Reflections on teaching research ethics in education for international postgraduate students in the UK. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(1), 94-105.
  • Standish, P. (2006). Data return: the place of given in educational research. M. McNamee, & D. Bridges (Dü) içinde, The Ethics of Educational Research. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Stokhof, M. J. (2018). Ethics and morality, principles and practice. Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie, 1(2), 1-14.
  • Tulyakul, P., & Meepring, S. (2020). Ethical Issues of Informed Consent: Students as Participants in Faculty Research. Global Journal of Health Science, 12(3), 86-90.
  • Vanclay, F., Baines, J. T., & Taylor, C. N. (2013). Principles for ethical research involving humans: ethical professional practice in impact assessment Part I. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 31(4), 243-253.
  • Velardo, S., & Elliot, S. (2018). Prioritising doctoral students’ wellbeing in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 23(2), 311-318.
  • Von Essen, E., Hansen, H. P., Nordström Kallström, H., Peterson, M. N., & Peterson, T. R. (2014). Deconstructing the poaching phenomenon. British Journal of Criminology, 54, 632-651.
  • Welland, T., & Pugsley, L. (2002). Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research. Aldershot: Ashgate.
There are 62 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Studies on Education
Journal Section Article
Authors

Vahide Yiğit Gençten 0000-0003-0372-2298

Publication Date April 30, 2021
Submission Date July 29, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 7 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Yiğit Gençten, V. (2021). Minimizing Harm in the Context of Educational Research: An Ethical Issue. Eğitim Kuram Ve Uygulama Araştırmaları Dergisi, 7(1), 147-157.