Moral position - None of the groups involved in the study will be treated differently, since the actual participation in learning programs has already taken place. However the responses will help to guide myself and my colleagues to ensure that the use of forums is not a detriment to future learning experiences, and ensure that problems experienced by individuals can be addressed.
Honesty - I am not aiming to fit the data to a particular theory or framework from the outset, although I will have to be careful to avoid the temptation to do this. In order to provide real justification for this, such results would have to be reliable and reproducible across several data sets, which is not likely to be possible across such small samples. By choosing action research I am committing to developing understanding of the online environment for practitioners & future participants alike.
Responsibility - All information shared is within the same organisation, and responses are anonymous, with the option to avoid being quoted in written reports, so nobody should be disadvantaged as a result of this study. There are no questions that I would expect to reveal anything sensitive, however this is something to bear in mind for future studies.
Sharing - I have expressed my intent to share results with participants, and with the wider organisation. What I will need to consider is the appropriate format to write up my results for others to appreciate. I'm sure most colleagues won't get much benefit from an academic-style paper! Nor should I be disseminating detailed results outside the organisation, although there is probably some benefit in talking about the overall process on a wider platform - this blog to be precise!
Freedom - Participants have had freedom to answer the questionnaire or not, and have also been given the option to have their responses omitted from written reports. I have not based the study on their actual forum entries, and I would be inclined to avoid doing so at such an early stage in the use of forums. People are apprehensive enough about engaging with the medium without the idea of their every word being used in evidence!
Community - This research project has been discussed with colleagues in Learning & Development to ensure that the nature of questions asked is appropriate, and that participants can benefit from participating.
Attribution - This research project is not making use of anyone else's work (but then I would say that, wouldn't I?); I will however be referencing authors whose work has influenced my approach.
Standards - As mentioned previously, there are certain issues to consider about potential audiences for sharing. Whilst this blog, my research plan and my reflections are written for an academic audience, I will need to present my results in such a way that non-academic colleagues can benefit from the results. To this end I will be looking for visual ways to present the overall trends of my findings, and different ways of explaining what I believe to be the most relevant theoretical background.
Breaking down the different issues involved in ethics this way has been far more useful to me than having a code of practice laid out in any format. These questions have to be asked time and time again, for every context, to keep them from being ignored. Hopefully they won't just stay on the pages of my Wiki for assessment purposes...
References:
- Newby, P. (2010). Research Methods for Education. Pearson Education Limited.
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