Columbia & UMich recently halted human subjects research b/c of public health concerns. But what are the ethical implications for #userresearch practitioners currently in the field?
(1) If you're in a highly impacted area, is it ethical for you to leave to a less impacted area?
(1) If you're in a highly impacted area, is it ethical for you to leave to a less impacted area?
(2) How should you handle projects centered around participatory observations?
If field respondents are expected to keep working during a crisis (e.g., service workers, healthcare providers), is it ethical for researchers to quit their participatory role and leave the fieldsite?
If field respondents are expected to keep working during a crisis (e.g., service workers, healthcare providers), is it ethical for researchers to quit their participatory role and leave the fieldsite?
(3) How should you manage broken community access agreements?
If researchers make agreements with community members in exchange for fieldsite access (e.g., volunteering X hours), is it ethical to renege on that agreement and pull out before completing that service?
If researchers make agreements with community members in exchange for fieldsite access (e.g., volunteering X hours), is it ethical to renege on that agreement and pull out before completing that service?
(4) How do you balance rich data collection with the environmental, financial, and human impact of your fieldwork?
Bringing outside researchers into a fieldsite is expensive. Those funds could be rerouted to respondent compensation, capacity building, service delivery, etc.
Bringing outside researchers into a fieldsite is expensive. Those funds could be rerouted to respondent compensation, capacity building, service delivery, etc.
(5) How do you scope a project & decide whether you're the most appropriate researcher for a project?
Is it extractive for researchers to continue taking on projects without supporting local autonomy & capacity-building efforts so communities can conduct projects themselves?
Is it extractive for researchers to continue taking on projects without supporting local autonomy & capacity-building efforts so communities can conduct projects themselves?
