Download - Techno research
Stranger in a Strange Land : the Stranger in a Strange Land : the issues and challenges of cyber-issues and challenges of cyber-
space researchspace research
Carol HaighCarol HaighProfessor in NursingProfessor in Nursing
Manchester Metropolitan UniversityManchester Metropolitan University
The focus of this presentation will be ……The focus of this presentation will be ……
• To explore the potential of the virtual world to contribute to research
• To debate the effects of cyber space on respondents
• To outline the ethical issues that are inherent within techno-research
Research in cyberspaceResearch in cyberspace
• Cyberspace is a potentially useful tool for nursing research because it is;– Generationally appropriate– Allows for large international samples to be accessed– Cost effective– Speedy responses
• But there are specific issues attached to this new research medium…
RepresentativenessRepresentativeness
• Techno-population
• Use of pseudonyms
• Use of Avatars
Virtual persona Vs Hard’ identity
• Identity of participants
• Disinhibition
Verification issues
• De-brief Interviews
• Plagiarism
Associated issues are ethical concerns …..
Analysis of online informationAnalysis of online information
• Copyright status of WWW information
– Publicly archived information– Password protected archives – Site policy – Topic sensitivity
ConsentConsent• Electronically if participants are >18
– Only if risk is low– Step-by-step online consent form– Safeguard e-consent from accidental erasure– Consent process should not be disruptive
• Parental consent <18– Paper format– Verbal acceptable if risk is low– F2F interview for parental consent for online
interviews with minors
Public versus private conversationsPublic versus private conversations
• Cyberspace defies locality
– Is a chat room a public place?– ‘Public’ and ‘private’ are metaphors in
cyberspace (Waskul,1996)– The act of observing disturbs the observed– Virtual reality pseudonyms are as important
as ‘hard world’ identities
Privacy and ConfidentialityPrivacy and Confidentiality
• More stringent personal data security in EU– Protection in instances where data is shared across
national boundaries (AoIR, 2002)
• Subject identity (Bruckman’s 4 levels of disguise)– No disguise– Light disguise– Moderate disguise– Complete disguise
The ethical layers of cyberspaceThe ethical layers of cyberspace
• Cyberspace is multi layered
• There are different levels of ethical concern attached to each cyber-layer
• Deeper immersion in cyber-reality requires greater complexity of ethical consideration
• Like this….
Level Environment Participant ID
Privacy Data Reliability
Research Methods
Ethical dilemmas
1 Public (e.g. web space)
Accessible real world
ID
None Strong Neutral Superficial
2 Semi-public (e.g. e-mail)
Controlled real world
ID
Light Strong Overt participation
Minimal
3 Semi-private (e.g. listserv)
Accessible virtual world ID
Light moderate
Moderate Overt non-participation
Moderate
4 Private (e.g. Chatroom)
Controlled virtual world ID
Moderate Weak Covert participation
Significant
5 Virtual (role-playing)
Complete virtual world immersion
Heavy Unreliable Covert non-participation
Highly significant
Sources of InformationSources of InformationAssociation of Internet Reserachers (2002) Ethical Decision Making and Internet Research. Recommendations from the AoIR ethic working committee. www.aoir.orgBruckman, A (2002) Ethical guidelines for research online www.cc.gatech.edu/-asb/ethics/Haigh, C Jones, N (2005) An overview of the ethics of cyber-spece research and the implications for nurse educators. Nurse Education Today 25 3-8Waskul, D (1996) Ethics of online research: considerations for the study of computer mediated forms of interaction. http://venus.soci.niu.edu/-jthomas/ethics/tis/go.dennis