Aims to make students employing a qualitative methodology familiar with the epistemological and ethical issues they are likely to encounter in a formal ethics review. Explores common ethical dilemmas that routinely confront qualitative researchers in the field.
The paper focuses as much on advanced qualitative research techniques (auto-ethnography, photo voice, narrative analysis, the walking interview) as it does on an introduction to qualitative research ethics. A key question asks if qualitative research is sufficiently unique to require its own code of ethics. The paper traverses established (Zimbardo, Humphreys, Milgram) and recent cases of ethical dilemmas thrown up by social science research.
The first two assignments review major epistemological issues in qualitative research ethics. The third assignment allows students to write an ethics application focusing on their future research project. Additionally, assignment four - the longest assignment, written in the second of half of the year - allows students to research a topic of their choice in depth.
| Paper title | Qualitative Research Ethics |
|---|---|
| Paper code | SOCI401 |
| Subject | Sociology |
| EFTS | 0.1667 |
| Points | 20 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2019, expected to be offered in 2020 |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $1,120.06 |
| International Tuition Fees (NZD) | $4,439.89 |
- Prerequisite
- 72 300-level SOCI points
- Notes
- Students who have not passed the normal prerequisite may be admitted with approval from the Head of Department.
- Contact
- sgsw@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
- View more information on the Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work's website
- Teaching staff
- Course Co-ordinator: Associate Professor Martin Tolich
- Paper Structure
- The paper is 100% internally assessed.
- Teaching Arrangements
- Seminar-based learning.
- Textbooks
- Tolich, Martin editor (2015). Qualitative Ethics in Practice, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA
- Tolich, Martin and Barry Smith (2015). The Politicisation of Ethics review in New Zealand, Dunmore Press, Auckland
- Sieber, Joan and Martin Tolich (2013). Planning Ethically Responsible Research Sage, Thousand Oaks
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
- Students who successfully complete the paper will be able to
- Understand and critically evaluate the sociology of power relations within research ethics; compare these patterns and trends cross-nationally
- Situate qualitative research epistemologically, understanding how its research ethics manifest uniquely
- Comprehend primary-source material on qualitative research ethics
- Apply ethical principles to current dilemmas in qualitative research ethics
