Fieldwork for language education research in rural Bangladesh: ethical issues and dilemmas

Abstract

This contribution documents the author’s lived experiences in his fieldwork for his PhD research in the field of English as a second/foreign language in a familiar social setting in Bangladesh. The account suggests that insider researchers can helpfully draw on their tacit knowledge of local social and cultural norms and values to understand their research participants and their experiences, and behave with them in socially and culturally appropriate ways. However, it also shows that the insider perspective is more complex and problematic than is commonly assumed. To what extent local researchers are true insiders is questionable, particularly if they have social status differences with their research participants and, more crucially, if they are trained in Western academia and Western ethical norms. The major focus here is on the relevance of the ethical codes emphasized by the ethics committee of an Australian university to fieldwork in rural Bangladesh. The discussion that follows highlights personal ethical dilemmas, which resulted from an irreconcilable gap between the expectations of research ethics in Western academia and cultural realities and behavioural norms in the developing society. Implications of these ethical issues for fieldwork in developing countries as well as for institutional review boards are suggested.