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.


About the Author
Ron Iphofen is an independent research consultant, a fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, the Higher Education Academy, and the Royal Society of Medicine. Since his retirement as director of postgraduate studies in the School of Healthcare Sciences, Bangor University, he got involved as an adviser to the European Commission and a range of research agencies (in government and independent) across Europe. He was the vice chair of the UK Social Research Association and convenes their research ethics forum. He has advised the UK Research Integrity Office, the National Disability Authority of the Irish Ministry of Justice, and the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, among many others. Ron is the founding executive editor of the gerontology journal Quality in Ageing and Older Adults. He published Ethical Decision Making in Social Research: A Practical Guide, with Palgrave Macmillan (2009/2011). He is the executive editor of a book series for Emerald Publishing: Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity and edited volume 1 in the Series: Finding Common Ground: Consensus in Research Ethics Across the Social Sciences (2017). Martin Tolich is an associate professor at the University of Otago, New Zealand, teaching research ethics and research methods in the sociology department. In 2012, he was awarded a blue skies 3-year Marsden Grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand to study tensions around ethics review (Research Ethics Boards) and indigenous (Maori) consultation. His recent books are with Joan Sieber (2013) Planning Ethically Responsible Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks; Barry Smith (2015) The Politicisation of Research Ethics in New Zealand, Dunmore, Auckland; and a Routledge text he edited (2015) Qualitative Ethics in Practice Routledge. Forthcoming books (in 2018) include the Sage Handbook on Qualitative Research Ethics (with Ron Iphofen) and the fourth edition of Social Science Research in New Zealand (with Carl Davidson).

Reviews

This is a landmark collection in the field of qualitative research ethics, and a Handbook with a key message. The contributions are full of insights about ethical issues in diverse research contexts, populations and methods. Taken together they build the case for an institutional approach to ethical review for qualitative research that can deal with specificity and complexity. Iphofen and Tolich's Handbook will be richly informative for academic researchers but it should be required reading for ethics committee members.

-- Rosalind Edwards

I doubt there are many, if any, qualitative researchers who are not mindful of the ethical responsibilities they bear when investigating social situations. These responsibilities go far beyond the procedural requirements of ethics reviews and require careful thought and on-going review. By considering various ethical perspectives whilst reflecting the diversity of qualitative approaches and techniques, the contributions to this handbook demonstrate the need to treat each research endeavour as a unique instance, requiring a unique ethical response. In doing so it offers a valuable resource to both experienced researchers and those who are just starting out alike.

-- Professor Pat Sikes



Book Information
ISBN 9781473970977
Author Ron Iphofen
Format Hardback
Page Count 584
Imprint Sage Publications Ltd
Publisher Sage Publications Ltd
Weight(grams) 1180g