The Ethics of Educational Research

In this book, philosophers and social scientists shed new light on the key ethical issues confronted by educational researchers in the course of their work. The book covers a broad range of topics, including professional accountability, ownership, representation of and access to data, the limitations of codes of conduct, paradigmatic superiority and tolerance, and ethical conflict in theory and practice. The contributors take professional discussion of the ethics of social research to new depths, and make fundamental criticisms of educational research in particular. The up–to–date Codes of Conduct included here also represent a valuable teaching and research resource.

1. Introduction: Whose Ethics, Which Research?: Mike McNamee. 2. The Principle of Assumed Consent: the Ethics of Gatekeeping: Roger Homan. 3. Opening Windows, Closing Doors: Ethical Dilemmas in Educational Action Research: Les Tickle. 4. Representation, Identification and Trust: Towards an Ethics of Educational Research: Shirley Pendlebury and Penny Enslin. 5. The Ethics of Outsider Research: David Bridges. 6. Codes are Not Enough: What Philosophy can Contribute to the Ethics of Educational Research: Robin Small. 7. The Virtues and Vices of an Educational Researcher: Richard Pring. 8. The Guilt of Whistle–blowing: Conflicts in Action Research and Eduactional Ethnography: Mike McNamee. 9. Accountability and Relevance in Educational Research: Christopher Winch. 10. Educational Philosophy, Theory and Research: A Psychiatric Autobiography: David Carr. 11. Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research Design: A Plea for Paradigmatic Tolerance in Educational Research: Paul Smeyers. 12. Data Return: The Sense of the Given in Educational Research: Paul Standish. Appendix A: British Sociological Association: Statement of Ethical Practice. Appendix B: British Psychological Society Code of Conduct: A code of Conduct for Psychologists. Appendix c: British Educational Research Association: Ethical Guidelines. Appendix D: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada: Tri–Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans

Dr Michael John McNamee is Reader in Applied Philosophy at the Leisure and Sport Research Unit, University of Gloucestershire. Professor David Bridges is Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Applied Research in Education at the University of East Anglia and Executive Director of the Association of Universities in the East of England.