AbstractParticipant rights and voices are protected through institutional ethical considerations in the social sciences and applied linguistics. Yet, several ethical concerns remain. In addition to adhering to institutional macroethics, researchers should develop microethics to address contextual issues within their research. The need for the development of microethics is particularly important in the qualitative research process where researchers engage in studies with participants rather than treating them merely as data sources. Drawing on key concepts in philosophical hermeneutics, the current study discusses an ethical framework for data collection and analysis that embraces participants’ rights and voices through reflexive questioning, reciprocal dialogues, unbiased listening, and rightful analysis of participants’ data with and from two multilingual families in Norway. Participatory diagramming was employed in a collaborative participatory approach to present the collected data and initial data analysis to the participants, allowing them to review and validate the data analysis conducted by the researchers. Using thematic analysis to analyze participants’ experiences and reflections, our findings indicate that the ethical framework of interview and analysis enhanced researchers’ understanding, empowered participants in the research process, facilitated member-checking, created beneficial collaboration opportunities for the participants, and facilitated reaffirmation of informed consent.
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