Karen O'Reilly

I am sharing exercises to accompany each chapter of Qualitative Research Methods for Everyone: An Essential Toolkit (Policy Press). https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/qualitative-research-methods-for-everyone

Here are the exercises for Chapter 3. 

Gaining consent. Try to obtain at least three versions of a participant information sheet and compare and contrast them. 

Design a participant information sheet for i) a child, ii) a surgeon, iii) a homeless person

Discuss: language, style, format, when and how to share, whether to have a website as well, when verbal explanations are better. 

Design a consent form. Discuss: when to use consent forms. Is verbal consent ok? Can gaining consent ever be unethical? 

Discuss: what do I mean, in the book, by reflexivity and ethics as practice? How will this approach shape your research design and practice? 

Ethics guidelines. Explore a range of (at least three) online ethical guidelines or codes and make a list of key issues with respect to your own research. For examples see: 

The Social Research Association (SRA), https://the-sra.org.uk/SRA/SRA/Ethics/Research-Ethics-Guidance.aspx

The British Educational Research Association, https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-fifth-edition-2024

The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK, https://www.theasa.org/downloads/ethics/Ethical_guidelines.pdf

The European Commission (Research Ethics in Ethnography/Anthropology), https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/hi/ethics-guide-ethnog-anthrop_en.pdf

The American Anthropological Association https://americananthro.org/about/policies/statement-on-ethics/

You might also enjoy the book’s accompanying Podcast series: Qualitative Research Methods for Everyone, wherever you get your podcasts. 

Comment below. Please share any tips or insights in the comments.