Ethical Aspects of Qualitative Research

Risk
Definition:
Continuum of risk
Low Risk  Medium Risk High Risk / Harm
Definition:
Continuum of harm
Severity/Low  MediumHigh
Population *
Study design
Data collection:
(see: Appendix 1)
  • Audio-, video recordings; pictures

  • Document analysis: individual case files, patient records; written/e-mail correspondence (etc.)

  • Focus groups

  • Key informant interviews

  • Organizational materials: financial information; budget data, board minutes (etc.)

  • Participant observation

Data analysis method:
(see: Appendix 2)
  • Case study

  • Ethnography

  • Grounded Theory

  • Mixed-methods

  • Phenomenology

  • Other

Topic

*Vulnerable populations: pregnant women, fetuses or neonates; children; prisoners and other institutionalized populations; mentally incapacitated adults (developmentally disabled adults, mentally incapacitated elderly, others with dementia, mental illness or other conditions that impair decision making

Appendix 1. Common ethical concerns of qualitative research

Characteristics / Ethical Concerns of Qualitative Research
Naturalistic setting / Complexity of obtaining consent (e.g. participant observation). Balance between protection of human subjects and efforts to collect meaningful data.
Emergent nature of design / Planning for questioning and observation emerges over the time of the study. Therefore, it may be difficult to inform the participant of all the potential threats prior to enrolling in the study.
Researcher-participant interaction / Relationships developed between the researcher and the participant may blur the focus of the interaction (research relationship becomes therapeutic; research vs. practice).
Researcher as instrument / Researcher must acknowledge any personal bias, interpreting findings in a way that accurately reflects the participant’s reality.

Appendix 2: Comparison of commonly used qualitative research methods: focus, goals, study questions, researchers’ perspectives, sampling, data gathering, analysis and use of findings.

Case study / Ethnographic Method / Grounded Theory / Phenomenological Method
Focus on capturing unique stories / Focus on learning cultural patterns / Focus on uncovering social processes / Focus on understanding human experience
Goal: understand what is common and unique about a case
- Individual, family, community or organization / Goal: understand the native’s view of his/her world (emic) / Goal: to arrive at a theory about basic social processes
- Theory will emerge from (“grounded in”) the data / Goal: understand the meaning of the experience as it is lived by the participant
Study question: What are the details and complexities of the story of… / Study question: How does this cultural group express their pattern of… / Study question: How does this social group interact to… / Study question: What is the human experience of…
Researcher’s perspective: etic* shifts to emic** / Researcher’s perspective: brackets personal biases / Researcher’s perspective: has some knowledge from literature / Researcher’s perspective: brackets personal biases
Sampling: critical case – choose a case with high potential to illustrate a phenomenon / Sampling: researcher selects a cultural group that is experiencing the phenomenon / Sampling: purposive / Sampling: purposive
Data gathering: multiple methods, quantitative and qualitative data, interviews, observation, document reviews / Data gathering: participant observation, immersion, interviews, obtaining histories, collecting material items / Data gathering: Interviews are audiotaped and transcribed
- Observations are recorded as field notes / Data gathering: written or oral data
Analysis: tied with data gathering as the case story is generated / Analysis: simultaneous with data collection / Analysis: simultaneous with data collection / Analysis: simultaneous with data collection
- Data saturation
Describe: patterns and themes / Describe domains or symbolic categories through increased levels of complexity / Describe the language and diagrams / Describe: patterns or themes
Use of findings: provide in-depth evidence-based discussion of clinical topics that can be used to guide practice / Use of findings: how cultural knowledge, norms, values and other contextual variables influence the health experience of a particular population / Use of findings: the theory explains, interprets or predicts the phenomenon of interest / Use of findings: understand experiences of clients who are experiencing similar events

*etic = the etic view is that of the ‘outsider’ – researcher; **emic= the emic view is the perspective of the native or the insider’s view.

References: (1) LoBiondo-Wood, G. & Haber, J. (2010). Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice, 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.

(2) Tilley, D.S. & Long, J. (2014). Qualitative and mixed research methods. In C. Boswell & S. Cannon (Eds.), Introduction to nursing research: Incorporating evidence-based practice (3rd ed.) (pp. 227-263). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

1 | Page