Ethics, Ethnography and Education

Ethnography is an emergent methodology that requires managing research ethics in-situ, which can conflict with increased ethical regulation and procedures from ethics review boards. This volume problematizes this tension and highlights the importance of managing ethics in-situ by reflecting on recently completed and current projects, drawing out ethical dilemmas relating to data ownership, dissemination, representation, social justice, and managing ethnographic studies in the midst of a global pandemic and Covid-19 lockdowns. It argues that administrative and conceptual change is needed to ensure that ethics does not become a tick box exercise but that ethnographers commit fully to conscientiously managing ethics in-situ.

Format: Hardback
Length: 220 pages
Publication date: 23 June 2022
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited

Ethnography, by its very essence, emerges as a dynamic and evolving methodology. To uphold ethical principles, the ethnographer must navigate research ethics in real-time. This requirement to address ethical dilemmas as they arise frequently clashes with the heightened ethical regulations and procedures imposed by ethics review boards, which mandate researchers to anticipate ethical complexities before initiating data collection. These regulations can inadvertently limit the evolving purpose of the study, the innovative methods of data collection, and the diverse approaches to engaging with participants, which are considered strengths of adopting an ethnographic approach.

The chapters in this volume delve into this tension and underscore the significance of managing ethics in-situ by examining recently completed and ongoing projects, highlighting ethical dilemmas related to data ownership, dissemination, representation, social justice, and conducting ethnographic studies amidst global pandemics, such as the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Reflecting on these experiences of conducting educational ethnography with children and young people, drawing from a diverse array of studies conducted in England, Scotland, South America, India, and the Basque Country, this volume argues for administrative and conceptual changes to ensure that ethics does not merely become a checkbox exercise but that ethnographers fully commit to conscientiously managing ethics in-situ.

Weight: 402g
Dimension: 161 x 238 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839822476