ISS21, UCC Ethics Committee & Applied Social Studies Research Committee

• Speaker: Professor Divya Sharma, Western Connecticut State University
• Introduction from Dr Derek Clifford, Co-Editor of Ethics and Social Welfare
• Respondent: Dr Claire Dorrity, School of Applied Social Studies, UCC

Wednesday 22 March, 4 - 5.30 p.m.

Online via MS Teams

Email m.scanlon@ucc.ie to register

The edited volume, Ethics, Ethnocentrism, and Social Science Research (2022; Routledge) covers a wide range of ethical and methodological challenges that a researcher may face. Drawing from various themes covered in the book, this presentation spotlights these issues while using qualitative research methods. It specifically examines studying sensitive behaviors in cross-cultural and non-western settings. It begins with highlighting these challenges in collecting data from refugees living in Jodhpur, India. Studies on such topics of violence, displacement, loss, and trauma may pose emotional concerns both for the researcher and respondents.

The researchers may also use a pre-set or even preferred lens to frame topics of crime, justice, and victimization raising concerns about validity and ethics. This presentation explores the issues related to harm to subjects, voluntary participation, gatekeepers, ethnocentrism, helicopter researchers, cultural sensibilities, authenticity, and so on as considered in qualitative research. Field research often generates rich individual narratives that carry strong internal validity, but these need to be presented critically and carefully to avoid overgeneralizations while operating within ethical boundaries. Lastly, it emphasizes the need for researchers to remain humble in their endeavours, no matter what the methodology or the topic.