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Section 4: THE RIGHT TOOLS TO MANAGE THE JOB
Step Fifteen: What ethical considerations should I be aware of?
As the research commissioner, you must be aware of, and uphold, basic ethical responsibilities, as well as legal obligations, throughout the life of your research project. It is important that you, as the research commissioner recognise your "…responsibility to ensure that research is conducted using appropriate methods and that the rights and interests of all those involved in the research process are protected" (Government Social Research, 2005, p. 7).
The GSR Professional Guidance: Ethical Assurance for Social Research in Government sets out five key ethical practices that research commissioners have a responsibility to uphold:
> Principle 1: sound application and conduct of social research methods and appropriate dissemination and utilisation of the findings
> Principle 2: participation based on valid informed consent
> Principle 3: enabling participation
> Principle 4: avoidance of personal and social harm
> Principle 5: non-disclosure of identity and personal information
You need to ensure that potential ethical issues presented by your research project are assessed at the outset and that the researcher has the appropriate arrangements in place to guarantee the research is conducted ethically.
There is a duty to ensure that a research project complies with any relevant legislation. The RESPECT Code of Practice for Socio-Economic Research notes that there are two areas of law, data protection law and intellectual property law that are particularly relevant to the conduct of research.
Cultural sector research can often involve the collection and processing of personal data. The Data Protection Act 1998 is probably the most important piece of legislation for those involved in collecting and processing personal data. There are eight key principles put in place by the Act which state that personal data:
- must be processed fairly and lawfully
- can only be used for the specified and lawful purposes for which it was collected
- shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive
- shall be accurate and where necessary kept up to date
- must not be kept beyond fulfilling the purpose for which it was collected
- shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects
- must be kept secure
- shall not be transferred European Economic Area unless adequate protections are in placed.
More information is available from the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK’s independent public body which regulates and enforces the Data Protection Act. Data Protection Act 1998: Guidelines for social research has been produced jointly by the Market Research Society (MRS) and the Social Research Society (SRA) and provides detailed guidance on all aspects of the legislation. You can find information covering any stage of a research project: commissioning; research design and execution; data processing; and using data.
Intellectual property rights were created to protect intellectual creations. They grant creators and producers of intellectual goods (temporary) rights to control the use of their creations or productions which includes the rights resulting from intellectual activity such as research. There are different types of intellectual property but the most relevant is copyright. The principal legislation on copyright is the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. For more information on copyright see UK Intellectual Property.
In summary, you should:
- ensure that Intellectual Property Rights are clearly spelled out in contracts, that authorship is clearly attributed and that research is carried out in compliance with the law;
- ensure that authorship is correctly attributed and respect the economic and moral rights of researchers (the UK Copyright Service notes that for commissioned work rights will usually belong to the author of the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary).
- For more information see section 2.2 of the Respect Code of Practice for Socio-Economic Research.
"Respect the ownership of models
and templates used by your consultant –
don’t pass these on to anyone else"
Consultant
There are other laws which may also be relevant to ethical considerations such as the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. For more information see Appendix B of the Ethical Assurance for Social Research in Government.
In an increasingly litigious society, it is in your interests to be aware of all these protocols and operate within guidelines where they exist.
Top tip: wherever possible collect evidence to support the fact that you have operated within guidelines (e.g: consent forms, risk assessments and recruitment pro formas). If this is in the form of pro formas remember to sign and date them.
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