Khan (2019)
Between 2004-2005, Shamus Khan did ethnographic research on an educational institution where he was once a student. What was the result of this research?
What is the publishing of a book?
Ogden's research participants were engaging in this controversial behaviour, making them vulnerable to being entangled in the criminal justice system.
What is assisting with suicide?
The "Belfast Project" involved interviews from both Catholic (IRA) and Protestant (UVF) paramilitaries active in the 1970s, where this kind of information was likely disclosed.
What is: descriptions of illegal conduct, like involvement in abductions, murders.
Article 5.1 Researchers shall safeguard information entrusted to them and not misuse or wrongfully disclose it.
What is the ethical duty of confidentiality?
According to Shamus Khan, this is a condition of being able to do empirically rigorous research on sexual assault, or other topics (e.g. policing).
Confidentiality
Shamus Khan's research on this school was subpoenaed in a civil case involving sexual assault.
What is St. Paul's School?
One way of preventing researchers from being co-opted as informers is to prohibit research on this kind of information or topic.
What is "guilty" knowledge?
This group argued that investigating a 1972 murder outweighs the importance of participant confidentiality, and that researchers are jerks to try to uphold research confidentiality.
Who is the British/UK government?
(Article 5.5B) Researchers are required to seek participant consent for research that relies exclusively on the secondary use of information in this situation.
What is: When using coded information that may identify individuals and their names?
This was the reason for all the drama between the researchers and University administration with the Belfast project.
What is: because they could not agree about how much interviewee confidentiality to honour.
Breach of confidentiality, endangerment of current research participants, and subsequent consequences to ethnographic research are all examples of this.
What are the reasons why Shamus Khan did not comply with the subpoena?
Russell Ogden faced this problem with Exeter University's research ethics board.
What is: withdrawing support for his confidentiality pledge?
The time after which records can be revealed about the illegal activity of the participant.
What is the death of the participant?
This kind of information is irrevocably stripped of direct identifiers, with no way to allow future re-linkage. The risk of re-identification of individuals from remaining indirect identifiers is low.
What is anonymized information?
Researchers are compared to journalists on confidentiality for this reason.
What is: both need source trust to gather information?
One of Shamus Khan's key concerns was that complying with the subpoena could damage trust in future research. A loss of trust in researchers could jeopardize this broader ethical and methodological principle in social sciences.
What is research integrity and voluntary participation?
Exeter U's REB made to this change to its ethics policy after Ogden's case.
What is: Banned "unrealistic" confidentiality promises.
Researchers on the Belfast project became annoyed with their university administrators for this reason.
What is: because the university didn't push back against British government subpoenas demanding interview transcripts.
In exceptional circumstances only: when researchers are acting to protect the health, life or safety of participants, a third party, a community, or the general population.
What is: when is a researcher is ethically required to breach confidentiality?
When data linkage may produce identifiable information, what are the 2 components a researcher must satisfy to ensure confidentiality?
What is: a.) that data linkage is crucial to research and b.) appropriate security measures will be taken to safeguard information? (Article E.5.7)
Khan discusses the challenges and costs researchers face when confidentiality is required, especially when IRB (REBs) enforce demands and the associated costs of maintaining confidentiality. Khan expresses that this issue was not handled well in his case.
What is the responsibility of institutions?
Strict confidentiality limits can undermine research, since criminologists promise confidentiality to participants when studying this kind of behaviour.
What is, illegal behaviour or unreported crimes?
Documents guaranteeing confidentiality in American research where confidentiality is essential for producing valid/reliable health information, were created when researchers wanted to study returning Vietnam war soldiers' drug use in 1970.
What are "confidentiality certificates"?
Name 1 of the 5 levels of Data Anonymization in the TCPS 2 (2022).
What is:
Directly identifying information
Indirectly identifying information
Coded information
Anonymized information
Anonymous information
Khan outlines an ethical principle highlighting the responsibility that researchers have to protect participants, focusing on protecting the persons and the persons in places.
What is the researcher's responsibility to protect individuals, not institutions?