Ethical Issues in the Use of In-Depth Interviews: Literature Review and Discussion

Abstract

This paper reports a literature review on the topic of ethical issues in in-

Ethical Dilemmas for Clinical Psychologists in Conducting Qualitative Research

“…There have been two recent literature reviews conducted in relation to the ethical issues associated with qualitative research (Graham, Lewis & Nicolaas 2006;Allmark et al 2009). They both note that there are a large number of discussion papers but few empirical studies.…”

Death, bereavement and randomised controlled trials (BRACELET): a methodological study of policy and practice in neonatal and paediatric intensive care trials

“…This could include families known to have left the country, or when the trial team was aware of other reasons why an approach would be inadvisable. A number of families from TOBY had been approached to take part in an earlier study of consent processes in this trial; 162 the TOBY CTU staff, in consultation with the trial PI, felt that they should exclude these families. l The neonatal consultant who acted as the local trial PI in the centre where a baby was enrolled would be asked to review the remaining babies and to exclude any that they felt would be inappropriate.…”

Literature Review for the Type of Interview in Qualitative Research

“…Other ethical themes highlighted by analysts also include the dual involvement of the researcher and prevention of emotional harm (Allmark et al, 2009). Dual involvement explores on the other roles that a researcher must embrace to build a good rapport with the subject.…”

“…On the other hand, confidentiality is breached when the researcher publicizes private issues that were discussed. Significantly, the aspect of informed consent where researchers expect participants to open up fully on partial information (Allmark et al, 2009). To avoid such a scenario, there is the need of researches adapting to the continuous model of informed consent, where the participant is reassured throughout the study when sensitive issues are tackled.…”

“…However, narrowing down to qualitative interviews, research scholars say that the four ethical issues affecting the credibility of interviews include: "Reducing the risk of unanticipated harm, protecting the interviewee's information, effectively informing the interviewees about the nature of the study, and reducing the risk of exploitation" (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006) Tackling each of issue separately, analysts pinpoint the actual differences and why each aspect matters. For instance, privacy is often treated as confidentiality, while in reality, they are two distinct aspects that need to be respected separately (Allmark et al, 2009). Privacy ISSN 1948-5476 2017 manifests when the researcher indulges the subject on sensitive issues that one is uncomfortable with.…”