ETHICAL ISSUES WITH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

There are many ethical issues that can arise with qualitative research. Since qualitative research involves direct contact with participants many issues can take place. In qualitative research the researcher is the main instrument or tool in the study. The researcher is responsible for gathering the data from interviews, focus groups surveys, or questioners. Ethical issues can occur when the researcher or the participants break the confidentiality agreements or disclosure policies.

When a study first begins the researcher has to understand that participants have certain rights before they partake in qualitative research. Confidentiality is a major piece in qualitative research. Confidentiality in qualitative means that the information gathered from the study will not be reported in such a way to identify the participant. An ethical violation might occur if a teacher was interviewed to and was asked to give their personal view of their schools administration team. If the teacher decides to be totally open and says that every member of the administration team is arrogant and that each person needs to be replaced. An ethical violation can occur if the researcher goes and tells the principal everything that the teacher stated in the interview.

Another ethical issue that can happen in qualitative research is when the researcher does not disclose certain information before doing research. Disclosure is when the participants have working knowledge of the research that is taking place. For example, if a study is being conducted on the perspectives of Black football players at Ivy League schools and the researcher did not tell the participants the reason or focus was for the study. The data would not be reliable and the study would not be able to get published, because the researcher failed to disclose to the participants.