Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Engaging with Ethical Principles in Collecting Naturally Occurring Data

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Using Naturally Occurring Data in Qualitative Health Research

Abstract

Ethical considerations are crucial to any qualitative (and indeed quantitative) research project and undertaking qualitative research invokes some specific ethical concerns due to the nature of the data collection and analysis. Of course, as a field, health can be considered a sensitive topic for some, particularly in some areas more so than others. The chapter therefore explores some of the general ethical tensions that exist in qualitative health research, and explicates the more specific ethical arguments related to using naturally occurring data, its collection, analysis, and dissemination.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ashworth, P. (2003). The origins of qualitative psychology. In J. A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (pp. 4–25). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Committee on Bioethics. (1995). Informed consent, parental permission, and assent in pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 95(2), 314–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, K., & Reilly, R. (2007). Emergent issues when researching trauma: A confessional tale. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(4), 522–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Convery, I., & Cox, D. (2012). A review of research ethics in Internet-based research. Practitioner Research in Higher Education, 6(1), 50–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corden, A., & Sainsbury, R. (2006). Exploring ‘quality’: Research participants’ perspectives on verbatim quotations. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 9(2), 97–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson-Swift, V., James, E., Kippen, S., & Liamputtong, P. (2006). Blurring boundaries in qualitative health research on sensitive topics. Qualitative Health Research, 16(6), 853–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L., Kim, D., Fellows, I., & Palmer, B. (2009). Worth the risk? Relationship of incentives to risk and benefit perceptions and willingness to participate in schizophrenia research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35(4), 730–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eastham, L. (2011). Research using blogs for data: Public documents or private musings? Research in Nursing and Health, 34, 353–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etherington, K. (1996). The counsellor as researcher: Boundary issues and critical dilemmas. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 24, 339–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etherington, K. (2001). Research with ex-clients: A celebration and extension of the therapeutic process. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 29(1), 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2010). European textbook on ethics in research. Belgium: European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenbach, G., & Till, J. (2001). Ethical issues in qualitative research on Internet communities. British Medical Journal, 323, 1103–1105.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flewitt, R. (2005). Conducting research with young children: Some ethical considerations. Early Child Development and Care, 175(6), 553–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, M. (2008). ‘Power is not an evil’: Rethinking power in participatory methods. Children’s Geographies, 6(2), 137–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, A. C., Standlee, A., Bechkoff, J., & Cui, Y. (2009). Ethnographic approaches to the Internet and computer-mediated communication. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 38(1), 52–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giordano, J., O’Reilly, M., Taylor, H., & Dogra, N. (2007). Confidentiality and autonomy: The challenge(s) of offering research participants a choice of disclosing their identity. Qualitative Health Research, 17(2), 264–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, N., & Crawford-Wright, A. (1999). Research as therapy, therapy as research: Ethical dilemmas in new-paradigm research. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 27(2), 205–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazelgrove, J. (2002). The old faith and the new science: The Nuremberg Code and human experimentation ethics in Britain 1946–73. Social History of Medicine, 15, 109–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedgecoe, A. (2009). “A form of practical machinery”: The origins of Research Ethics Committees in the UK, 1967–1972. Medical History, 53(3), 331–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helps, S. (2017). The ethics of researching one’s own practice. Journal of Family Therapy, 39, 348–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, M., Johnson, N., & Auld, G. (2013). Silences of ethical practice: Dilemmas for researchers using social media. Educational Research and Evaluation, 19(6), 546–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herring, A. (1996a). Linguistic and critical analysis of computer-mediated communication: Some ethical and scholarly considerations. The Information Society, 12(2), 153–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herring, S. C. (1996b). Computer-mediated communication. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Herring, S. C. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse. In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, & H. Hamilton (Eds.), Handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 612–634). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt, J. (2007). Ethical components of researcher-researched relationships in qualitative interviewing. Qualitative Health Research, 17(8), 1149–1159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewson, C., & Buchanan, T. (2013). Ethics guidelines for Internet-mediated research. Leicester: The British Psychological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinton, D. (2013). Private conversations and public audiences: Exploring the ethical implications of using mobile telephones to reach young people’s lives. Young, 21(3), 125–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, J., & Bruckman, A. (2004). “Go away”? Participant objections to being studied and the ethics of chatroom research. The Information Society, 20(2), 127–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, D. (2008). The ESRC research ethics framework and research ethics review at UK universities: Rebuilding the tower of Babel REC by REC. Journal of Medical Ethics, 34(11), 815–820.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • James, T., & Platzer, H. (1999). Ethical considerations in qualitative research with vulnerable groups: Exploring lesbians’ and gay men’s experiences of healthcare—a personal perspective. Nursing Ethics, 6(1), 73–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kitchener, K. (1988). Dual role relationships—What makes them so problematic? Journal of Counseling and Development, 67, 217–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. (2010). Netnography: Doing ethnographic research online. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markham, A. (2005). The politics, ethics, and methods of representation in online ethnography. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 793–820). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markham, A., & Buchanan, E. (2015). Ethical considerations in digital research contexts. In J. Wright (Ed.), Encyclopedia for social & behavioral sciences (pp. 606–613). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, J. (2002). Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, M., & Till, J. (1996). The Internet: A modern Pandora’s box? Qualitative Life Research, 5, 568–571.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McKee, H. A., & Porter, J. E. (2009). Internet research: A rhetorical, case-based process. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeill, P. (1997). Paying people to participate in research: Why not? A response to Wilkinson and Moore. Bioethics, 11(5), 390–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meredith, J., & Potter, J. (2014). Conversation analysis and electronic interactions: Methodological, analytic and technical considerations. In H. Lim & F. Sudweeks (Eds.), Innovative methods and technologies for electronic discourse analysis (pp. 370–393). Hersey, PA: IGI Global.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Monks, H., Cardoso, P., Papageorgiou, A., Carolan, C., Costello, L., & Thomas, L. (2015). Young people’s views regarding participation in mental health and wellbeing research through social media. The International Journal of Emotional Education, 7(1), 4–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno, M., Fost, N., & Christakis, D. (2008). Research ethics in the MySpace era. Pediatrics, 121(1), 157–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse, J., Niehaus, L., Varnhagen, S., Austin, W., & McIntosh, M. (2008). Qualitative researchers’ conceptualizations of the risks inherent in qualitative interviews. In N. Denzin & M. Giardina (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry and the politics of evidence (pp. 195–215). Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., & Kiyimba, N. (2015). Advanced qualitative research: A guide to contemporary theoretical debates. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., & Parker, N. (2013). Unsatisfactory saturation: A critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 13(2), 190–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., & Parker, N. (2014). Doing mental health research with children and adolescents: A guide to qualitative methods. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., Parker, N., & Hutchby, I. (2011). Ongoing processes of managing consent: The empirical ethics of using video-recording in clinical practice and research. Clinical Ethics, 6, 179–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., Dogra, N., Whiteman, N., Hughes, J., Eruyar, S., & Reilly, P. (2018). Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23 (4), 601–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulus, T., Lester, J. N., & Dempster, P. (2014). Digital tools for qualitative research. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, H., & Schwartz, L. J. (2002). Ethics of qualitative research: Are there special issues for health services research? Family Practice, 19(2), 135–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sieber, J. (1992). Planning ethically responsible research: A guide for students and internal review boards. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. (2007). Reversing the retreat from Gillick? R (Axon) v secretary of state for health. Child and Family Law Quarterly, 19(1), 81–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer, M. (2010). “But the data is already public”: On the ethics of research in Facebook. Ethics and Information Technology, 12, 313–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Political Science, University of Chester, Chester, Cheshire, UK

    Nikki Kiyimba

  2. School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Jessica Nina Lester

  3. The Greenwood Institute of Child Health, University of Leicester, Leicester, Leicestershire, UK

    Michelle O’Reilly

Authors
  1. Nikki Kiyimba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica Nina Lester
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michelle O’Reilly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kiyimba, N., Lester, J.N., O’Reilly, M. (2019). Engaging with Ethical Principles in Collecting Naturally Occurring Data. In: Using Naturally Occurring Data in Qualitative Health Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94839-3_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94839-3_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94838-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94839-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation