Real Life Methods ran from October 2005 to January 2009. This website is archived and no longer maintained. For up to date information, please see www.manchester.ac.uk/realities
Real Life Ethics
Date: Wednesday 14 November 2007, 10-4pm
Location: Harold Hankins Building, University of Manchester
Workshop Organiser: Jennifer Mason
Workshop Content
This workshop will explore ethical issues in 'real life methods' - that is, research methods that try to get close to people's lived experience of personal life, using interview, ethnographic, visual and other (mostly) qualitative approaches. The workshop will explore different models or ideas about good practice developed in real research projects, whilst recognising that ethics are both contextual and contested, and often have to be worked out in challenging and dynamic situations. The day will include an ‘Expert Panel Session’, giving participants the opportunity to ask a panel of experts for advice on their own particular ethical concerns.
Programme
| 10.00 | Coffee/tea/biscuits and registration | |
| 10.25 | Introduction Jennifer Mason, Real Life Methods |
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| 10.30 | Vanessa May (Morgan Centre, University of Manchester) In this presentation I discuss some ethical issues related to the use of court-based samples in family research. The examples I draw upon are from a study on residence and contact disputes in court between divorced and separated parents. In this study we analysed court files and conducted interviews with parents and other family members. The ethical issues that we encountered while conducting this research were: how to contact the interview sample; whether to interview both parties to the dispute; whether to interview other family members and what to do with the resulting data; the presence of children during the interview; and whether to link information on the court files with the interview data. In this presentation I discuss how these issues presented themselves and how we dealt with them. |
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| 11.15 |
Carol Smart (Morgan Centre, University of Manchester) In this talk I shall cover a range of ethical dilemmas faced in recent research projects from the ethics of contacting children through to the problems of dealing with distress and unhappiness. I shall argue that ethical dilemmas of working with children are not necessarily different from those arising with adults, but they may be felt more intensely by researchers – especially given the current focus on protecting children. |
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| 12.00 |
Anne Rogers (Division of Primary Care, University of Manchester) This session will explore recent changes in the ethical governance of research carried out in health settings and the way in which this has impacted on the everyday lives of researchers carrying out social science orientated Health Services Research. The decisions and rules of Health Service ethics committees have had a significant impact on what is researched and the way it is conducted. The dilemmas and challenges this poses for carrying out field work will be discussed with reference to examples of applying for and carrying out research. |
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| 12.45 | Vegetarian lunch | |
| 1.45 | Small group discussion of ethical concerns A chance for participants to relate to themes arising from morning sessions. |
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| 2.30 | Expert panel session 'Any Questions' style question and answer session, chaired by Jennifer Mason to give participants a chance to ask our panel for their advice and views on ethical concerns arising from participants' own projects. On the panel:
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| 4.00 | Close. |
Ethical issues related to using court-based samples in family researchWorkshop audience
This is an intermediate level workshop which should be of interest to social science researchers, policy makers and practitioners.
Registration
There is no charge for attending the training workshop and lunch and refreshments throughout the day will be provided. Participants must fund their own travel and accommodation if necessary.
THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL. You can continue to register if you would like to be added to the waiting list and notified if a place becomes available.
Location
Conference Suite, 10.04/5, 10th Floor, Harold Hankins Building, University of Manchester. Harold Hankins Building is number 30 on the campus map [opens in new window].
The building can be a bit tricky to find. You might want to have a look at our directions to Harold Hankins Building if you haven't been before.
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