9. What are the ethical issues in education research that you should be sensitive to and which you should address in the design of your research?

 Some of the key ethical issues that you will need to address are:

·      voluntary participation, including the right to withdraw

·      informed consent of research participants

·      privacy and confidentiality of participant information

·      safety of research participants (avoiding risk of or exposure to physical and/or psychological threat, trauma and abuse) 

Questions related to the ethics of research that you can ask yourself at the outset and address in the methodology chapter of your thesis topic/ research proposal 

a)     Who are the participants (i.e. what sorts of people will be involved)?     

b)    How will they be recruited?

c)     If participants are under the responsibility of others (such as parents, teachers or medical staff), how do you intend to obtain permission for the participants to take part in the study? (Attach letter or details of permission procedures.)

d)    How will you obtain the consent of participants?      

e)     Describe the process by which you will inform participants about what you are doing.

f)     Will participants experience discomfort or embarrassment as a result of your study? If YES what steps will you take to explain and minimise this? If NOT, explain how you can be sure that no discomfort or embarrassment will arise?

g)     How will it be made clear to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any time?

h)    Will you provide participants with information about the findings of your study? (This could be a brief summary of your findings in general; it is not the same as an individual debriefing.) If YES, what form will this take? If NO, why not?    

i)      How will information obtained from or about participants be protected? What steps will you take to ensure the secure storage of personal data?

j)      Are there other ethical concerns arising from particular features of the proposed study? If so, outline what these are and how you will deal with these.

*Source: Adapted from the Institute of Education’s “Masters and Diploma Students’ Ethics Review Form”[2] 

 [1]Footnote or provide reference

 [2]Footnote or reference