Deck 6: Negotiating Access and Research Ethics

Question 1

Fieldwork is always a trade-off between the desirable and the practical.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

It is unethical to develop your research objectives around the nature of the organisational access you can get.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Which of the following is most likely to cause ethical concerns? The researcher's ________.

A) Gender
B) Age
C) Personality
D) Role in the organisation

Answer 3

Role in the organisation

Question 4

Postal contact will be improved if ________.

A) You give a link to a web page with more explanation of the project
B) You link to your privacy policy
C) You enclose a SAE
D) You charge the respondent money

Question 5

Before negotiating access, you should be clear exactly what time and resources you need from the organisation to answer your research objectives.

Question 6

Access to an organisation in order to carry out research may be refused because ________.

A) You have asked the wrong person in the organisation
B) Your research plan is not sufficiently detailed to convince the gatekeeper of the value of your research
C) Your project does not stand out from the many hundreds of applications for research access the organisation gets
D) All of the above

Question 7

The process of gaining access to data from intended participants involves participants agreeing to be interviewed, within agreed limits. This is the definition for ________.

A) Cognitive Access
B) Physical Access
C) Continuing Access
D) Informed Consent

Question 8

If we only interview those people easily available the validity and reliability of the project falls into question.

Question 9

You do not need to gain informed consent as an internal researcher.

Question 10

Access issues can be ignored when conducting Internet mediated research.

Question 11

Ethical codes of conduct are ________.

A) Standards of professional behaviour
B) Behaviours you expect from your participants
C) Legally binding on researchers
D) Unnecessary for questionnaire research

Question 12

What is meant by the term "research access"?

A) Being in contact with the resources you need to answer your research questions
B) Ensuring as many people as possible know about your research
C) Registering with tertiary sources of information
D) Acting ethically in the conduct of your activities

Question 13

The term netiquette refers to which of the following?

A) Politeness
B) Offering presents to participants
C) Rules on how to act ethically when using the internet
D) Rules on how to act ethically when visiting a company

Question 14

As a researcher you only need to worry about ethical issues when interacting with participants.

Question 15

Consent means: ensuring individuals have a very clear and unambiguous understanding of the purpose for collecting the data and how it will be used.

Question 16

The initial level of gaining access to an organisation to conduct research. This is the definition for ________.

A) Cognitive Access
B) Physical Access
C) Continuing Access
D) Informed Consent

Question 17

Position achieved when intended participants are fully informed about the nature, purpose and use of research to be undertaken and their role within it, and where their agreement is given. This is the definition for ________.

A) Cognitive Access
B) Physical Access
C) Continuing Access
D) Informed Consent

Question 18

Access does not affect a researcher's ability to obtain a representative sample.

Question 19

The UK Data Protection Act has eight principles to make sure that personal information is handled properly. Which of these is not one of the eight?

A) Data must be fairly processed
B) Data must be processed for limited purposes
C) Data must be adequate
D) Data must be kept for five years

Question 20

Which of the following are examples of "continuing" access?

A) Permission to enter the organisation which is granted at each stage
B) Ongoing discussions with participants about their voluntary role in the research
C) Neither of these
D) Both of these

Question 21

Use of known contacts in an organisation to gain research access is easier if you are undertaking a case study.

Question 22

Why is it a good idea to send a written request for access to your chosen organisation(s)?

A) To make sure they read it
B) To avoid personal assistants
C) To allow them to consider your request in their own time
D) To save time

Question 23

Which of these is NOT usually an organisational concern about allowing access to researchers?

A) Researcher's will fabricate data
B) The research will take up too much time
C) Sensitive commercial information will be leaked
D) The research will not be presented anonymously

Question 24

Which of these is a potential benefit of research to organisations?

A) Theoretical development of the field
B) Opportunity to discuss ideas with an outsider
C) Commercially sensitive material can be publicised
D) None of the above

Question 25

At what stage in the research process do ethics become unimportant?

A) After access has been granted
B) After data has been gathered
C) After the data has been analysed
D) Never

Question 26

What is meant by the term 'morally defensible'?

A) Stating your own values
B) Acting in a way consistent with prevailing ethical norms
C) Refusing to accept the moral ideals of others
D) Presenting data that has not been fabricated

Question 27

Deontological approaches to research ethics mean ________.

A) The significance of the data never justifies using any means of collecting it
B) The significance of the data means any means of collecting it are justified
C) Researchers must be aware of their participants' ethics
D) Participants must agree to abide by the researcher's ethics

Question 28

Which of these is NOT an ethical issue relating to your conduct with participants?

A) Privacy
B) Consent
C) Falsification of data
D) Non-maleficence

Question 29

A teleological approach to ethics in research allows you to act unethically to obtain important findings.

Question 30

Ethical integrity refers to the process of gaining approval from a research ethics committee.

Question 31

"Whilst carrying out an ethnography of a call centre, Julie is keeping a research journal to note down promises she has made to participants so she can check that she has kept them." What is this an example of?

A) Julie's ethical integrity
B) Covert data collection
C) Julie's data
D) Teleological ethics

Question 32

What is meant by "stage-specific" ethical issues?

A) Issues that arise when research is presented
B) Issues specific to participants' place in the research design
C) Issues relating to distinct parts of the research process
D) Issues that differ between different types of research project

Question 33

"The organisation and participants' rights to confidentiality/anonymity" is most important in the ________ stage of the research process.

A) Topic clarification
B) Data processing
C) Analysis and reporting
D) Access

Question 34

The researcher has a right to freedom from sponsor/gatekeeper coercion even when they desperately need access to an organisation to carry out research.

Question 35

Consideration of research ethics does not extend to the physical safety of the researcher.

Question 36

Which of these is NOT an ethical problem in research?

A) Use of a personal contact to gain access
B) Potential to cause harm to participants
C) Breach of the organisation's anonymity
D) Deception of participants

Question 37

Which of these is a good way to ensure anonymity in reporting interview data?

A) Do not include quotations from the participants
B) Lie about who said what
C) Refer to participants with numbered codes
D) Change the name of the organisation

Question 38

The return of a completed questionnaire is NOT enough to imply that the participants consent to taking part in the research.

Question 39

Which of these should be included on a "participant information sheet"?

A) Explanation of the nature of the research
B) Contact details in case of questions
C) Recognition of the right to withdraw at any time
D) All of these

Question 40

"Informed consent is not required in online research because the Internet is a public place." What is this statement an example of?

A) Bad practice
B) An ethical code
C) Good practice
D) Moral defensibility

Question 41

You should fully disclose your presence, affiliations and intentions to online communities if you are 'present' to conduct research.

Question 42

Which of these is NOT a widely accepted right of participation in research?

A) Right to withdraw
B) Right to amend conclusions
C) Right to see finished report
D) Right to anonymity

Question 43

Which of these is most likely to compromise anonymity during the process of gathering data using interviews?

A) Mentioning what you have found out from previous interviews
B) Asking the participant demographic questions
C) Tape-recording the interview
D) Not being clear about your intentions

Question 44

"Reactivity" is the name given to changes in behaviour by participants who know they are being observed.

Question 45

"Hanif is carrying out research investigating unconscious grocery shopping behaviours. He has written consent from the store manager, a notice is placed prominently near the entrance to the store informing shoppers that a researcher is inside doing a structured observation of the numbers and types of shoppers that day." If we assume informed consent is not needed as a store is a public place, why could Hanif's research still be regarded as unethical?

A) Shoppers do not know if they are in the study or not
B) He is deceiving participants about the nature of the research
C) The methodology is flawed
D) Hanif will have a problem with "reactivity"

Question 46

You should always promise the host organisation for your research some tangible benefit.

Question 47

Carrying out covert research where "reactivity" is a likely problem is always morally defensible.

Question 48

Gaining access to an organisation can take a considerable amount of time.

Question 49

"Reactivity" in observational research can usually be overcome by ________.

A) Informed consent
B) Implied consent
C) Habituation
D) Debriefing

Question 50

"Jenny is doing a part-time Masters degree paid for by her employer, a pharmaceutical company. The managing director will only allow her to use the company as the basis for her research if she shows the company's record of providing drugs to the developing world in a favourable light." This is an example of ________.

A) Deception
B) Sponsor coercion
C) Contravention of the Data Protection Act
D) All of these