Reconciling Ethical Dilemmas as a Practitioner-Researcher Through the Use of a Reflexive Framework

This short paper discusses a framework for reflexive ethical decision making. It draws on the ethical considerations made during a doctoral study which examined relationships and networks between secondary school middle leaders. Exploring these experiences with the participants as a practitioner-researcher offers many opportunities for generating authentic voice yet can present ethical dilemmas around confidentiality and anonymity. Whilst the intention is that they will have a positive experience and benefit from their participation, there is the possibility of creating negative outcomes, including stress, harm, or anxiety. This may be the result of recalling difficult experiences or the feeling of being vulnerable through the exposure of personal information, especially if their disclosure is something they regret later. Therefore, it is important the research design, execution, analysis, dissemination, and communication of these studies are all informed by an ethical and moral code of conduct; one which spans the entire research process, not merely as a ‘stand-alone’ pursuit around the application for ethical approval.
The paper explores the use of frameworks from Guillemin & Gillam (2004), Tracy (2010) and Gray (2014), in order to create an approach which considers the wide variety of responses required when creating an ethical approach which is responsive and reflexive to the dilemmas that arise during qualitative research.