ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some tensions faced by researchers working in countries in the South in following the international principle of informed consent, mainly developed by professional bodies or local ethics committees of various universities in the North. It discusses the issues around gaining informed consent, particularly in research environments in the South, and highlights the need for accommodations. The aim is to advance a case for hybridity in educational research – that is, developing some general ethical principles that can serve as guidelines for researchers to develop contextually appropriate ethical practices that do not compromise either the research participants or the rigour of their research enterprise. Finally, some strategies are presented to address the issues raised regarding informed consent in varied research settings. While the chapter draws on examples from research conducted mainly in Pakistan, the issues raised, the scenarios discussed and the interpretations presented are relevant to similar contexts elsewhere.
