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The Ethics of Researching Images Found Online

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Abstract

The sheer quantity of qualitative data that researchers can find online increases every day. In this chapter Anna Harris addresses ethical challenges of using this online material for research, principally images. She introduces how researchers have used found images online and the ethical issues already highlighted in the literature, before discussing her collaborative study of YouTube videos made by users of online genetic testing services. In this chapter Harris discusses ethical dilemmas she and her collaborators faced when engaging with this video material, their solutions and unresolved concerns. The discussion covers topics of borderless research, ownership of data, confidentiality and obtaining consent. As internet-based research escalates, and online encounters pervade everyday life, these are issues of importance to researchers, ethics committees and the broader public.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the wonderful collaboration with Sally Wyatt and Susan Kelly, on our project about direct-to-consumer genetic testing. This chapter is influenced by our work together, as well as Sally Wyatt’s work on digital ethics and her helpful comments on an earlier draft. Our project was called ‘Selling genetic tests online’ and was funded between 2010 and 2012 by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (grant number 463-09-033) and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/H0250330/1 (Kelly)/RES-000-22-3864), under their Bilateral Agreement Scheme. We published the results of our study of YouTube users, conducted as part of the broader project, in New Genetics & Society. My thanks to the editors of this book for the invitation to contribute, and to the reviewers of my chapter for their insightful remarks and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

    Anna Harris

Authors
  1. Anna Harris
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Deborah Warr

  2. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Marilys Guillemin

  3. Melbourne, Australia

    Susan Cox

  4. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Jenny Waycott

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© 2016 The Author(s)

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Harris, A. (2016). The Ethics of Researching Images Found Online. In: Warr, D., Guillemin, M., Cox, S., Waycott, J. (eds) Ethics and Visual Research Methods. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54305-9_5

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