Abstract
PurposeThis paper aims to discuss research ethics in mixed-methods research (MMR) and MMR development with a focus on ethical challenges that stem from working with technical instruments such as mobile eye-trackers.Design/methodology/approachThe case of an interdisciplinary mixed-methods development study that aimed at researching the impacts of emerging mobile augmented-reality technologies on the perception of public places serves as an example to discuss research-ethical challenges regarding (1) the practical implementation of the study, (2) data processing and management and (3) societal implications of developing instruments to track and understand human practices.FindingsThis study reports challenges and experiences in ethical decision-making in the practical implementation of the study regarding the relationship to research subjects, the use of mobile research instruments in public places and the interdisciplinary cooperation among research team members. Further, this paper expounds on ethical challenges and recommendations in data processing and management and with a view to societal implications of method development and the aspirations of transdisciplinarity. This study concludes that institutionalized ethics need to become more flexible, while applied ethics and reflection must make their entry into university curricula across disciplines.Originality/valueComplex interdisciplinary mobile and mixed-methods projects that involve sensors and instruments such as mobile eye-trackers are on the rise. However, there is a significant lack of engagement with practical research ethical challenges, practices and requirements in both mixed-methods and method-development literature. By taking a context- and process-oriented perspective focusing on doing ethics, the paper contributes a concrete empirical case to these underdeveloped fields.
Highlights
In today’s world, researchers are faced with increasingly complex digital and hybrid mobile phenomena such as locative media and mobile augmented reality (AR) that once again challenge empirical research methodologies (Humphreys, 2013; Liao, 2019)
Doing ethics under conditions of complexity and uncertainty It can be concluded that doing ethics in mixed-methods development proves as challenging as in other contexts where researchers are faced with complexity and uncertainty
As Kudina and Verbeek (2019, p. 297) point out, “[i]f ethics is about the question of ‘how to act’ and ‘how to live,’ and technologies help to shape our actions and the ways we live our lives, technologies are ‘actively’ taking part in ethics”
Summary
In today’s world, researchers are faced with increasingly complex digital and hybrid mobile phenomena such as locative media and mobile augmented reality (AR) that once again challenge empirical research methodologies (Humphreys, 2013; Liao, 2019). We want to contribute to this underdeveloped discussion by reflecting on the research-ethical challenges of our interdisciplinary mixed-methods development project that includes mobile eye-tracking. We analyse three dimensions of research-ethical challenges we have identified to be facing in the conduction of our project: the research ethics (1) in the practical implementation of the study design, (2) concerning data processing and management, and (3) with a view to the societal implications of developing instruments to track and understand human practices. We want to share our experiences with the ethical challenges that came up in the course of our interdisciplinary mixed-methods development project “The Digital, Affects and Space” (DigitAS), which involved the instrument of mobile eye-tracking. Given the newness and experimentation with mobile eye-tracking in MMR, there is so far a notable lack of discussions on the concomitant ethical challenges and of recommendations for how these can be tackled
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