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(Un-)Informed Consent? Regulating and Managing Fieldwork Encounters in Practice

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Sozialraum erforschen: Qualitative Methoden in der Geographie

Zusammenfassung

Interactive methods of qualitative social research such as interviews bear the possibility that the mere fact of researchers visibly conducting research may influence the behaviour e.g. of respondents. This empirically proven aspect of interviews, group discussions and observations leads to problems for the current practice of procedural ethics that call for a specific form of informed consent. We, in contrast, illuminate the complex relationships researchers and respondents engage in. Based on these insights, we highlight the need for consciously managing one’s identity in the course of fieldwork. Using examples from our own empirical work, we elaborate on the delicate balance between this essential impression management and the need to avoid deception which would compromise our research from an ethical point of view.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leipzig, Deutschland

    Dorit Happ, Frank Meyer, Judith Miggelbrink & Kristine Beurskens

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  1. Dorit Happ
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  2. Frank Meyer
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  3. Judith Miggelbrink
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  4. Kristine Beurskens
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geographisches Institut, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Jeannine Wintzer

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Happ, D., Meyer, F., Miggelbrink, J., Beurskens, K. (2018). (Un-)Informed Consent? Regulating and Managing Fieldwork Encounters in Practice. In: Wintzer, J. (eds) Sozialraum erforschen: Qualitative Methoden in der Geographie. Springer Spektrum, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56277-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56277-2_2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-56276-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-56277-2

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