Ethical Dilemmas in Educational Research: BERA Case Studies for Researchers by Researchers

Drawing on the real voices and experiences of researchers, this book illustrates how the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research can be used to appraise research studies ethically. Researchers have choices when they design, conduct and report their research. These choices have consequences for others – funders, sponsors, those who facilitate access to research settings, those in the research settings, participants and the researchers. Sometimes the consequences can be anticipated and positive consequences can be maximised in the research design and negative consequences minimised. Sometimes the consequences only become apparent as the research unfolds. This book presents a series of case studies following researchers in their decision-making through studies in a range of settings to consider different ways to deal with ethical dilemmas raised. The authors draw on their experiences to explain researcher thinking and how this relates to enacting values, pointing to relevant advice in the BERA ethical guidelines. They also explore choices not taken, considering the possible implications from such decisions, and how other researchers might have made different decisions based on different positionality. The book confronts rather than avoids the application of Global North derived guidance for research in settings other than the UK. As well as thought provoking case studies, the book puts forward questions for readers to relate to their own research contexts and recommended reading for further thinking about the issues raised.

Table of Contents:
Part I: Scene Setting 1. Virtue ethics and being a researcher: Introduction to ethical decision-making (Alison Fox, The Open University) 2. Ethical Guidelines in Educational Research: The State of Play (Sin Wang Chong, University of Edinburgh) Part II: Case Studies 3. Too late?! Ethics review and approval processes in Practice as Research contexts (Nicole Brown and Sara Young, members of Practice as Research network, University College London) 4. Applying BERA principles to international and intercultural research (Felicity Hasson and Una Connor-Bones, University of Ulster) 5. International research and the ethics of language (Aimee Quickfall, Bishop Grosseteste University and co-authors from Finland and Denmark) 6. Positionality and decolonial approaches to research from UK Universities (Bukola Oyinloye, University of York and Ruth Edmonds, Keepyourshoesdirty and The University of Edinburgh) 7. Placing children’s rights central to researcher decision-making (Carmel Capewell, Helen Hanna and Chawin Pongpajon) 8. Can I make this happen? Researching in hostility as an early career researcher (Pauline Lyseight-Jones, Independent researcher and Kris Stutchbury, The Open University) 9. Ethical dilemmas in classroom observation (Daniel Muijs, Southampton University and Matthew Courtney, Wandle English Hub, Chesterton Primary School, South West London) 10. Ethics of working with quantitative data in large scale studies (Michelle Ellefson, Sonja Illie and TBC) 11. Dilemmas of care in online interviewing (Aimee Quickfall and Phil Wood, Bishop Grosseteste University; Kaisa Pihlainen, University of Eastern Finland) 12. The ethics of research involving artificial intelligence in education (Rob Farrow, The Open University and Wayne Holmes, UCL Knowledge Lab) 13. Ethical considerations when using social media in educational research (TBC) 14. Where is environmental sustainability in the ethics of educational research? (Lynda Dunlop, University College London, and Lizzie Rushton, Kings College, London) 15. Reimagining Quality in Conducting Systematic Literature Reviews in the Context of Dissertation Supervision: From Reliability to Reflexivity (Daniel Muijs, Southampton) 16. Openness, Inclusivity and Diversity: Supporting Early Career Researchers as Ethical Practice of Journal Peer Review (Sin Wang Chong, University of Edinburgh, Qi Liu, Queen’s University Belfast and Natalie Tegama, The Open University) 17. The ethics of researcher care: Researching in fragile contexts (Sally Baker, University of New South Wales, Australia; Phillipa Bellemore, Macquarie University, Australia; Sally Morgan, Monash University, Australia) Part III: Situating Ethical Guidance 18. Creating democratic ethical review and approval fit to cross borders (Jelena Vranjesevic, Alison Fox, Judy Durrant, David Frost and Val Hill) 19. Research ethics issues and solutions in education research in Ukrainian universities (Iryna Kushnir, Oksana Zabolotna and members of the Ukrainian Educational Research Association) 20. Multilingualism, multiculturalism as ethical lenses for educational research ((Barbara Skinner, Ulster University and coauthors TBC) 21. Conclusions for the ecological web of educational research (Alison Fox + authors drawn from within the book’s authorship team tbc)

About the Author :
Alison Fox is Senior Lecturer in Learning and Teaching, School Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport at the Open University, UK.