Ethical issues during ethnographic research in residential homes: A personal experience

Abstract

Background: Ethical issues are essential components in any piece of research. In fact, they ought to be considered during designing, planning and conducting each research study particularly among the vulnerable. The aim of this paper is to describe and explain some of the ethical issues and challenges faced by a researcher who carried out a research in three Malaysian residential homes. Materials and Methods: This paper describes the challenges experienced by a researcher during two pilot studies and a main ethnographic study in three Malaysian residential homes. For this, relevant literatures were explored as well. Results: This manuscript is divided into three sections. First, it provides the key definitions. Second, it describes the ethical issues before entering the fields work. And third, it elaborates on the ethical considerations when researcher was making observations and writing field notes, and when the elderly participants were interviewed. Conclusions: Better understanding of ethical considerations can help researchers to better handle their research and avoid harming others.