In this article, the authors engage in a conversation about outsider research around issues of African American history and education. They focus on issues of agency, respect, and core cultural knowledge. The authors also develop an ethical code by which outsider researchers, in collaboration with insiders, can explore the history, culture, and…

Drawing on research supported within the Scottish "Applied Educational Research Scheme" this paper explores the use of the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) in developing "communities of enquiry" in Scottish education and research. It focuses on the role of VREs in influencing collaborative working and educational research.…

Examines relevant case law regarding confidentiality in educational research. Argues that the benefits to society of educational research and the notion of academic freedom provide a rationale for extension of limited legal privilege of confidentiality to educational researchers. Proposes a code defining the nature and extent of research…

Suggests that ethical problems in research involving contact with children can be overcome by using a participatory approach. Describes a study conducted in England and Wales that explored what part children are playing in decisions since implementation of the Children Act 1989 and what the participants think of the process. (LPP)

This article contains the verbatim text of the Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers adopted by the General Conference of Unesco at its eighteenth session in 1974. Also listed are international instruments and other texts concerning workers in general or scientific researchers in particular. For journal availability see SO 504…

Argues that seeing reciprocity as a context-based process of definition and re-definition of the relationship between participants and researchers helps them understand how research projects can benefit participants in ways that they desire. Considers the ethical dimensions of reciprocal research relationships. Uses the authors' own research…

Addresses the issue of intention in action research, suggesting that researchers ask who will be the first-level beneficiaries and what will be the first level of change. Discusses ethical questions regarding consent and justification of research steps. (SK)

Ethical conflicts may arise when health care professionals control researchers' access to vulnerable populations. Collaboration and dialogue among researchers, health care providers, and potential subjects are essential in order to recruit enough subjects to maintain research integrity while ensuring their protection. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

All evaluators face the challenge of striving to adhere to the highest possible standards of ethical conduct. Translating the AEA's Guiding Principles and the Joint Committee's Program Evaluation Standards into everyday practice, however, can be a complex, uncertain, and frustrating endeavor. Moreover, acting in an ethical fashion can require…

Increasingly, universities around the world are employing ethics committees or similar bodies to require that social researchers enter into research contracts with research participants. Often, one of the stipulations regarding research contracts is that research participants be allowed to check the way in which their contribution is reported.…

Using a personal anecdotal style, this paper describes ethical conflicts that occurred during a study conducted in a kindergarten classroom in which the researcher was a passive observer. The paper is framed around an incident observed by the researcher in which a kindergarten student was stigmatized as an outsider and mistreated by his peer…

An educational researcher describes and reflects on a qualitative research project she conducted, focusing on her positioning, neutrality, and objectivity throughout the research process and during subsequent data analysis. The research took place in a K-12 school in a remote rural New Zealand community inhabited by Maori, 1970s…

Ways in which the ethics of value judgment are inherent in sociological research are examined. Also, the course of action that a researcher should consider when doing or talking ethics in relation to the society in which he or she expects to undertake research is discussed. (Author/RM)

The importance of research in professional and personal development is increasingly being acknowledged. So why should children not benefit in a similar way? Traditionally, children have been excluded from this learning process because research methodology is considered too difficult for them. Principal obstacles focus around three key barriers:…