Ethical Considerations in Geography Fieldwork (2023)

When planning a geography fieldwork independent investigation, all students should consider the ethics of their fieldwork research methods.

Why are Ethical Considerations Important?

Ethical considerations are important to protect the rights and wellbeing of the people involved in research, including the researcher, and to minimise any potential harm from the research to people or the environment. Fieldwork and research involves the pursuit of truth and ethical questions and concerns should be considered at each stage of the process to help maintain integrity and honesty and avoid bias and deception.

This is a core part of good research practice and for the UK Geography A Level NEA, marks are awarded to students for showing an understanding of ethical considerations by all examining bodies. Teachers are allowed to advise students on the ethical considerations of their research, as well as on risk assessments. Students should include a summary of their ethical considerations and practice in their coursework.

What are the Principles of Ethical Research?

Informed consent

It is important that the people who participate in the research understand the purpose, aims and methods of the research and freely consent to take part. Participants should be able to withdraw from the researchat any time.

Research which involves in-depth interviews with people on asensitive topic and in which the people are identifiable in the student's report will necessitate greater ethical scrutiny and more in-depth informed consent than research which involves a short questionnaire ona non-sensitive topic in which the data is anonymised.

The standard practice for academic researchers is to provideparticipants with an information sheet which explains theresearch in clear, accessible language and to obtain consent via aconsent form. Students should consider the best way to achieve informed consentfor their proposed research methods.

These could include:

• An information sheet for the participants toread before taking part and consent form for participants to sign.
• A description at the top of a questionnaireoutlining the research. It could state that participants consent to take partby completing the questionnaire (implied consent).
• A pre-written description of the research which is read to the participant with consent given verbally.
• A description on a webpage with an online consent form for research taking place online.

For research undertaken in Spain itis advised to have a version of all research materials in Spanish and English.

Photography is essential to all types of geographical research. Besides seeking consent from individuals, consent to photograph more general scenes, for example of street markets or domestic characteristics, should also be considered.

Anonymity and confidentiality

Students should consider whether the data they collect will be made anonymous by removing names and any other personal identifiers. Best practice is that research data shouldbe anonymised unless there is a specific reason not to do so. Studentsshould also consider if they will share the data collected with others (forexample, other students or research participants). Students must informparticipants whether their data will be anonymous and confidential.

Researcher behaviour

Students should behave in a professional manner whenconducting their research. This includes adopting the role of a neutralresearcher and respecting people's opinions (particularly when they may differfrom their own), and people's right to not take part in the research.

Bias is antithetical to a researcher's role. We all see the world through our own lenses and the difficulty of adopting a neutral role in a time of fake news[1], declining objective journalism and increasing media activism and agenda bias should be acknowledged. The report from the UK Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy Skills in Schools[2] found that only 2% of children and young people in the UK have the critical literacy skills they need to tell if a news story is real or fake. 'We are increasingly faced with a (mainstream) media that barely hides its prejudices' is the conclusion of newgeography.com[3] in its discussion of the demise of press diversity and openness in the US. To help identify fake news and reduce bias in their research, students should make efforts to use triangulation[4] and explore alternative facts, values and viewpoints within and beyond mainstream media, particularly of those they may tend to disagree with[5].

There are many ethical considerations to be taken into account in making use of photography in geographical research. These include image selection, accurate representation, image cropping and manipulation as well as subject consent mentioned above. The researcher should adopt techniques that avoid filtering images based on prior ideas and opinions. A mosaic of 'ordinary' images of the same feature taken over time rather than selecting the 'best' one can assist in a more objective and honest analysis and help identify contrary evidence.

Students should consider how they present themselves whenundertaking the research. For example, they could wear a badge to identifythemselves and their role as a researcher and avoid wearing sloganed or 'statement' clothing.

The safety of the researcher is also an important ethicalconsideration. Students should consider their safety and ensure appropriatesteps are taken to minimise risk. This should beincluded as part of the risk assessment.

Environmental impact of research

Students should consider the potential environmental impactof their research. This could include considering whether it is necessary toremove samples from the natural environment for further analysis in thelaboratory or classroom and how they will minimise any harm or damage caused to theenvironment by undertaking their research. Students should also considerconsent to access their research study sites.

Data collection

Where sampling is used to study people or places, random or systematic techniques may be combined with stratified sampling to help avoid bias and to ensure that data collected is a fair representation of the whole population studied.

Random sampling avoids bias in selecting specific people or places. Systematic sampling collects data at regular intervals e.g. every 50 metres along a transect line, or from every tenth person. Stratified sampling divides the target population into its representative groups or categories, e.g. different age ranges, or the upper, middle and lower stages of a river long profile.

Data interpretation and storage

Students should process, analyse and interpret their data ina fair, transparent and representative manner. Opinions expressed should be founded on honestly gathered data, supported by theory and fact. Data should never befalsified, made up or manipulated to deceive. It is important for students to understand thattheir research does not have to convincingly prove or disprove their hypothesesand that research in the real world is often messy, with unexpected and contradictory results.

Students should be conscious of cultural and cognitivebiases when interpreting their data. Our assumptions about other cultures maybias our perceptions of them and this can impact onobjectivity, including issues of stigma, stereotyping, discrimination andethnocentrism. A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that affects thedecision and judgments that people make - see this infographic from Business Insider[6] to find out more.

Students should practice the principles of good data managementand consider how they will anonymise, file, label and store data securely. Thisincludes how data will be stored when in the field, when and where this datawill be transferred, deletion of files on mobiledevices, a systematic way of versioning files, and a system for backing up data.

Ethical Research in Practice

Human Geography Enquiry Example

Physical Geography Enquiry Example

Further information

Many human geographers adhere to the ethical codes of theBritish Sociological Association https://www.britsoc.co.uk/media/24310/bsa_statement_of_ethical_practice.pdfor the Association of Social Anthropologists https://www.theasa.org/ethics/guidelines.html

Sources

This web page is informed by the UK Edexcel Examiners report 2019 and the specifications of the UK A Level Geography Examination Boards.