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Research ethics and data quality: the implications of informed consent

Research ethics and data quality: the implications of informed consent
Research ethics and data quality: the implications of informed consent
Patterns of research governance are changing rapidly in the field of social research. In current debates about these changes one issue of particular concern is the impact that new patterns of research governance will have on the quality of the data collected. The 'optimistic' scenario on this issue is that more ethical research practice will lead to better-quality data, but a more 'pessimistic' scenario exists in which the unintended outcome is poorer-quality data. Drawing on material from a study of researchers' experiences of dealing with the process of gaining informed consent from research participants, this article identifies the various ways in which the researchers position themselves in relation to the competing 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' scenarios. It concludes by seeking to develop a synthesis of the two positions in which ethical research practice is treated neither as an automatic guarantee of, nor as an inevitable obstacle to, the collection of good-quality data
1364-5579
83-95
Crow, Graham
723761e4-bba1-4eba-9672-e7029f547fce
Wiles, Rose
5bdc597b-716c-4f60-9f45-631ecca25571
Heath, Sue
f4df85b4-fdde-4353-8641-08a4b9fbbcae
Charles, Vikki
d0c792df-7763-43a0-a73b-1d9212243982
Crow, Graham
723761e4-bba1-4eba-9672-e7029f547fce
Wiles, Rose
5bdc597b-716c-4f60-9f45-631ecca25571
Heath, Sue
f4df85b4-fdde-4353-8641-08a4b9fbbcae
Charles, Vikki
d0c792df-7763-43a0-a73b-1d9212243982

Crow, Graham, Wiles, Rose, Heath, Sue and Charles, Vikki (2006) Research ethics and data quality: the implications of informed consent. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 9 (2), 83-95. (doi:10.1080/13645570600595231).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Patterns of research governance are changing rapidly in the field of social research. In current debates about these changes one issue of particular concern is the impact that new patterns of research governance will have on the quality of the data collected. The 'optimistic' scenario on this issue is that more ethical research practice will lead to better-quality data, but a more 'pessimistic' scenario exists in which the unintended outcome is poorer-quality data. Drawing on material from a study of researchers' experiences of dealing with the process of gaining informed consent from research participants, this article identifies the various ways in which the researchers position themselves in relation to the competing 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' scenarios. It concludes by seeking to develop a synthesis of the two positions in which ethical research practice is treated neither as an automatic guarantee of, nor as an inevitable obstacle to, the collection of good-quality data

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Published date: April 2006

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 35368
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/35368
ISSN: 1364-5579
PURE UUID: f0c37a86-9e55-4c58-a34c-c86fc2b5a06c

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Date deposited: 15 May 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 07:51

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Contributors

Author: Graham Crow
Author: Rose Wiles
Author: Sue Heath
Author: Vikki Charles

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