RESEARCH ETHICS

A key aspect of any research involves the code of ethics which guides the given field of academic study. Ethnographic research requires seeking permission from relevant bodies, institutions, and individuals concerning the settings for which the study will be investigated, applying to all members within a society, and purports an important ethical consideration (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007). Firstly, I formally contacted the Norwegian center for research data (NSD) which is an ethical body responsible for ensuring that all academic research follows set ethical guidelines. When I notified NSD about the proposed research, they reviewed the research project to validate the ethical considerations and approved the study.

This entire process made the research ethically guided which I discuss in this section.

According to Hay (2016), ethical considerations within research involves both moral and practical arguments towards research behavior that protects the rights of individuals, communities, and environments involved in or affected by our research. Thus, “all research

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must be interested in helping to increase benefits and minimizing harm to the world to assure a continued and friendly environment for the conduct of scientific inquiry” (ibid: 31). One major idea that is most important within ethical behavior in research involving human beings is “fully informed voluntary consent” (Gregory, 2003: 35). Thus “every code of ethics designed to guide research involving human participants gives primacy to the requirement of fully informed consent on the part of the individuals concerned” (ibid: 35). Before interviewing participants, I made them fully aware of the entire study, informing them of all the various aspects, benefits, and harms as well as their right to withdraw from the study, allowing them to personally decide their willingness to take part in the research. This was mostly done by providing them with an information letter noting all the details of the study including a consent form that they had to sign to signify their acceptance to participate. Participants who did not fully understand the content of the letter requested more clarity, which I provided and this enabled them to make an informed decision. Some participants preferred to give oral consent which was also appropriate in the study.

A major aspect of consent was during interview sessions where I had to make audio recordings of the interview discussions. I always informed the participants when I began recording and made them aware that they could prompt me to stop the recording at any moment if they felt uncomfortable with what was being discussed to be recorded. This was very important as a substantial part of the discussions involved their private life and this was a way to protect their privacy. While this was not often the case, it helped to create a mutual understanding between the participants and me and made them fully aware of their rights in the research. Providing informed consent helped to structure interview sessions as it improved dialogue and communication between the participants and I. Although, I did not experience many ethical dilemmas due to constant awareness and practice of ethical behavior, some situation brought about ethical concerns which I had to address accordingly.

One particular instance was when I approached a female informant in public and her husband was nearby. After going over to talk to her, her husband showed up with an unfriendly look, gazing at me with hostility. I realized the situation and immediately apologized to him and tried to explain to him my research and the purpose of approaching his wife. He did not seem convinced and this was expressed in his voice. He turned to his wife and they traded words in their ethnic language. I did not want to escalate the situation any further so I made another apology and left the scene. Going through this experience made me aware of how to approach my participants, especially since most of them are married and as such, approaching them in

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public could be misread. I did not want my research to cause harm to any participant.

In terms of confidentiality which is closely associated with the principle of consent (Gregory, 2003), the study aimed to keep the informants from being affected negatively by the information that they provided as research data. Thus, all the statements and quotes provided by the participants used in the study are anonymized. Besides, certain quotes and statements used in the study are altered to both improve the comprehension and make it academically acceptable. As part of the ethical behavior in research, a researcher has the due obligation to ensure that the confidentiality of his/her informants is duly discharged to achieve anonymity for participants in the research (ibid.). Following this, the names of participants are replaced with codes and this is a major aspect of confidentiality in the study. Again, in instances where I provided pictures of the interview sessions, I, first of all, sought consent from the participants and also replaced their names with pseudonyms to ensure anonymity.

In essence, the ethics undertaken in this research are part of ensuring that the research, as well as the research process, has been carried out under conducive, thoughtful, reflexive and, informed behavioral practices that aimed to maximize benefits for all the parties involved.

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