Against the ethicists: on the evils of ethical regulation

Researching from within: external and internal ethical engagement

“…Although such issues may be easily identifiable by the researcher at the outset, it is worth briefly exploring this review process further, as it has become far more regulated and bureaucratic over recent years and is not without its critics (see, for example, Hammersley 2009;Tierney and Corwin 2007). From our different experiences of being insider researchers, and in line with the growing literature surrounding this topic (see IJRME 2010 33/3 for examples of lived experience of ethics review), it is clear that ethical procedures have become more stringent.…”

“…These issues include minimising potential physiological/psychological/emotional harm to participants, ensuring that informed consent is gained from the participants before embarking on the research and ensuring anonymity of the participants throughout the process. Coupled with the increasing awareness and growing body of literature dealing with these issues, there has also been a significant growth in the ethical regulation of social science research in the UK (Hammersley 2009). …”

Access or Egress? Questioning the “Ethics” of Ethics Committee Review for an Ethnographic Doctoral Research Study in a Childbirth Setting

“…Rather than the further regulation that Ramcharan and Cutcliffe's (2001) model might imply, Hammersley (2009) considered that RECs hold no authority to regulate research ethics, and would play a more useful role by providing a place for the discussion and facilitation of ethical issues for researchers. This approach, of a REC having a facilitative, rather than a regulatory, role would appear to support the ethical nuances of qualitative research.…”

“…Qualitative methodologies are emergent, adaptive, and less predictable than biomedical research methodologies (Cutcliffe & Ramcharan, 2002;Flick, 2009;Katz, 2006), therefore setting out precise written consent forms can be problematic, but it does not then follow that the study is ipso facto unethical (de Laine, 1997). Furthermore, by regulating research within stringent guidelines of informed consent, critical research methodologies can be severely restricted, leading to the possibility that critical inquiry is abandoned by academics in favour of more amenable forms of research (Haggerty, 2004), and may also limit new knowledge production by curtailing academic freedom and creativity (Bledsoe et al, 2007; see also Hammersley, 2009) …”

Researching illegality and labour migration

“…by showing sensitivity to the implications of revelations about status on the lives of individual migrants). The ethics of research and research methodology have been subjected to considerable debate, both at the meta-ethical level and with respect to specifi c research topics and projects (Bryman, 2004;Copp, 2006;Hammersley, 2009). In research situations some ethical concerns and individual interests may need to be traded off against others.…”