Course Description
This one-day PhD course addresses the complex ethical dilemmas that might occur when doing research involving human participants, with a specific focus on research in the humanities. This research can take many forms and take place for example in laboratories, concert halls, classrooms, or on social media and the internet, and encompass a wide range of methods, including observations and experiments.
The course consists of two parts. First, we look in plenary at the general rules and guidelines for research involving human participants (both online and offline), the relationship between collection of personal information (GDPR/SIKT) and research ethics (with a special emphasis on the NESH guidelines). Topics include but are not limited to informed consent, participant agency, researcher safety and what to do when things go wrong. We will also get familiar with (and try to answer!) some known cases and dilemmas, engaging in discussion.
In the second part we divide into groups and discuss dilemmas and considerations emerging from PhD candidates’ own work and try to inform and solve these together.
Course preparations
Course participants will read about 100 pages of mandatory readings and select at least 200 pages of their choice from the list of suggested readings. Reading list will be posted in Canvas.
Written assignment (Pre-course):
Participants should write a brief (2 pages/800-1000 word) statement explaining:
- Their research topic and – if available – research questions/hypotheses
- Their proposed method(s) and material/data in some detail
- The dilemma/challenge/problem they would like to discuss. This could either be an experience, a foreseen challenge, or a precautionary measure.
The text should be uploaded to Canvas by November 27th.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Acquire knowledge of relevant ethical frameworks and data protection requirements in Norway, including NESH and SIKT.
- Be able to critically reflect on the relationship between institutional requirements and broader research ethics.
- Be able to identify ethical dilemmas in their own and other research and propose ethically sound strategies for addressing them.
Course Credit
This is a 1 ECTS course. It is designed to support PhD candidates in developing ethical awareness and practical tools for conducting responsible research involving human participants.
This course can be taken independently of or in combination with the course Ethics in Field Work which focuses on ethical issues that may arise in fieldwork settings that involves human subjects, whether living or long deceased, including ethical responsibility vis-à-vis local communities, vulnerable individuals or groups and/or research in securitized contexts. Candidates who participate in both courses are asked to write original submissions for both courses addressing different ethical issues related to their research or discipline more broadly.
Registration
If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Eirik Jacobsen: eirik.jacobsen@imv.uio.no (PhD-coordinator at IMV).
About the lecturers:
Professor Elisabeth Staksrud (IMK), Internet & risk researcher and former chair of the National Research Ethics Committee for Humanities and Social Sciences (NESH).
Prof. Jonna Vuoskoski (IMV & PSI), music psychology researcher and a member of the internal ethics board at the Department of Psychology, UiO.