ABSTRACT

Formal ethics review may not offer the independence from institutionalized risk aversion that researchers need when something unexpected happens in the field. Nor may they be of much help in anticipating acceptable risks at the proposal stage and minimizing risks when researchers are faced with having to act quickly and spontaneously when confronted with a problem (Iphofen, 2011, pp. 143-172). Every researcher should have a reference group made up of colleagues, advisers, or fellow graduate students they can turn to for advice without obligations because even though professional norms are valued, it can sometimes be “difficult to ascertain the appropriate course of professional conduct” (Haas & Park, 2010). This chapter, written from an avowedly personal perspective, details the work of the UK Social Research Association (SRA) Ethics Forum that acts as a sounding board for those who face unexpected ethical dilemmas in their research. The Forum can also help novice researchers prepare for conventional ethical concerns that may have been incompletely dealt with elsewhere, such as by supervisors, commissioners, ethics committees, and research managers. This chapter ends by documenting the types of ethical dilemmas that the Forum addresses together with some recommendations for anyone thinking of establishing a similar arrangement.