Implementing continuous consent in qualitative research

Fride Haram Klykken

doi:10.1177/14687941211014366

Abstract

This article examines ways of approaching informed consent as a relationally constituted process in qualitative research practices. It argues that a researcher’s operationalization of informed consent should be coherent with the overall epistemological framework of the project. Based on empirical examples from an ethnographic inquiry in an educational setting, the principle of informed consent is discussed as a reflexive and ethical tool throughout the inquiry, including its pre-fieldwork, fieldwork and post-fieldwork phases. Strategies of explicitly and implicitly (re)negotiated consent and dissent are discussed and illustrated by drawing on some of the recent discussions of continuous consent practices. The article’s conceptualization of a continuous, situated and relational approach to informed consent is also supported by the concepts of response-ability and thinking with care in research ethics.

Highlights

Facilitating free and informed consent is a key ethical standard to consider when conducting social research
The recent changes to EU regulations on data protection (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, 2016) have contributed to increased emphasis on contractual agreements of consent during recruitment. Critics argue that this practice is insufficient for governing people’s integrity and freedom when taking part in qualitative research (Connor et al, 2018; Smette, 2019)
Others have argued that the main function of informed consent is to document the researcher’s plan to protect participants’ privacy and to legally protect the researcher and their affiliated institutions rather than the participants (Gallagher et al, 2010; Homan, 1991)

Summary

Introduction

Facilitating free and informed consent is a key ethical standard to consider when conducting social research. Researchers’ reflexive accounts of the practice usually focus on how each individual participant’s decision has materialized in the form of a written contract Such ethical evaluations include discussions of who is capable of consenting and how much information was given and in what form during this initial phase (Alderson and Morrow, 2011). The recent changes to EU regulations on data protection (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, 2016) have contributed to increased emphasis on contractual agreements of consent during recruitment Critics argue that this practice is insufficient for governing people’s integrity and freedom when taking part in qualitative research (Connor et al, 2018; Smette, 2019). Others have argued that the main function of informed consent is to document the researcher’s plan to protect participants’ privacy and to legally protect the researcher and their affiliated institutions rather than the participants (Gallagher et al, 2010; Homan, 1991)

Objectives

Conclusion