NZARE ETHICAL GUIDELINES

» Download NZARE's Ethical Guidelines (last reviewed in 1998). (PDF, 20K).

RECENT ETHICS WORKSHOP

Report on the NZARE workshop, James Cook Hotel, Wellington, 4th November 2008
Ethics in the 21st century: emerging issues in educational research/evaluation in new times

The workshop was facilitated by Jennifer Garvey Berger of NZCER. Thirty people participated, from a wide range of areas in the sector.

It was organized in response to questions raised by NZARE members about the role ethics approval processes seem to be playing in educational research in New Zealand – in particular in influencing the quality and/or types of research being carried out. There is also a perception that independent researchers have some issues that are different from those based in institutions. NZARE, as the national association of educational researchers, seems the natural forum for discussions of these issues – hence this workshop. A great deal of interest was expressed in it, and it is clear that ethics is, in general, an area of concern among educational researchers in New Zealand. However, these concerns are wide-ranging and varied, as the discussions at the workshop showed.

The workshop’s main outcome was to make it clear that there is a shared interest, from a wide range of different perspectives, in improving practice in this area, and in improving research quality in general. The participants in general saw ethics as being a dynamic, ongoing, principle-based process of decision-making by researchers, often on a case-by case basis, not a ‘tick-box’ exercise to check compliance with generic rules set by external authorities. Ethics is an integral part of research quality, and is a key responsibility of researchers, not external authorities. However, participants also raised a number of practical issues to do with implementing broad principles in the ‘real world’ ‘impure’ contexts in which they often find themselves working.

The workshop ended with a suggestion that a smaller group (of volunteers) be set up to begin the process of reviewing the NZARE Ethical Guidelines (last reviewed in 1998). This group (see below for names) met briefly at the NZARE Conference in November 2008, and is to meet for a full day (in Wellington on February 16th 2009) to begin this work. Notes from this meeting will be put up on this site for the information of members as they become available.

» Draft notes taken at the workshop Nov 08 (PDF, 92KB)