Ethical dilemmas in transformative research (and some solutions)

Ethics of engagement

“Voicing concerns about power dynamics out loud is a first step in addressing them”

Ethics of engagement concerns the interactions and engagement with stakeholders in research. Consistency and trust are important key elements in engaging with societal stakeholders. Going to a location, taking what you need for your own research and then leaving is usually not appreciated by communities. As a consequence, future researchers may meet distrust. Instead, it is recommended to formulate the research question and design in a collaborative process with an interest in giving back.

While relationship-building is often not considered 'academic work', in engaged research it is a necessary part of the process, at every step. Ethics of engagement can also play a role when researchers actively participate in an organisation. It requires you to think about the position you want to take: keep an outsiders’ perspective, or go in deep to find the most interesting stories. How involved can you get? Can you use casual conversations as data? How are you going to share results? Being aware of these questions upfront, for example by preparing a data management plan that considers these risks, helps to deal with these questions in the moment.

Participants to the training recommended the following concerning ethics of engagement:

• Discuss ethical issues you identify with ethics committees or colleagues.
• For organizations that are less than eager to change, it’s important to find the right angle to help the people within the organization whilst respecting the values of the organization. A creative way of doing this is presenting recommendations to problems you identify in the field as new research, e.g. organize workshops and use findings as research data.
• Being explicitly normative is better, and more honest, than not addressing normative issues and searching for objectivity/a-normativity (within the context of action research).
• Building relationships that are needed to break through power dynamics require skills that are not taught in university, so take time to figure this out and reflect on your actions.

Ethics of reciprocity

“Think about what YOU bring THEM”

How can we create mutually beneficial interactions? The groups you work with may expect a level of engagement which requires a real contribution (in their favour) and not only an (academic) article that appears in a journal and may or may not find its way towards decision makers, even if the researcher intends to promote a certain outcome. Therefore, you might want to ask participants what they expect in return and think about the different options you have to offer something.

Sometimes damaging trust cannot be avoided e.g., when a project is stopped or when research fatigue arises, leading to the sentiment of 'we're not your zoo animals'. How to ‘heal’ after trust has been damaged is a tricky question, and it’s a struggle to explain why you are still gathering data. Then, it is important to explain that you need an actual picture of the situation and document the changes.

Engaged research uses methodologies that actively consult citizens (and other stakeholders) throughout the research process. This allows for there to be more co-creation in research and innovation. Citizens are frequently keen to be involved in such activities, even though they are often not financially rewarded to do so. Contrarily, commercial parties may have the financial incentive to get involved, but not show the same level of intrinsic motivation.

Possible solutions are:

• Develop products besides your academic output that can help people.
• Connect participants to others in your network who can help them reach their goals.
• Consider different kinds of remuneration: “in one project we did give people a small remuneration and allowed them to follow a course for free. We don’t always have the budget to do that, but when we can it works out really well.”
• Be generous, offer dinner sometimes, especially if you can’t afford financial compensation.
• “Whoever it is, they have more knowledge than you, because they ‘live the environment’. To acknowledge this, the best way of moving forward may be to strengthen what you already see happening; you support and contribute to what ‘they’ are doing, rather than following and promoting your own ideas.

Ethics of expectations

“Awareness of power dynamics at all stages of the research is essential.”

Transformative research often runs over a longer time span and involves co-creative activities. Therefore, expectations can build up and people can get frustrated when these are not met. These dynamics can be difficult, as expectations of participants may go beyond your span of control. One example of what a researcher could do in this case is to amplify the voices of citizens to make them better heard, making use of the platform and recognition they have as a researcher to speak to those in more powerful positions.  

‘Managing expectations’ is easier said than done. Communicating clearly to manage expectations may concern: 1) that you are frank about that you don’t know how the outcomes will look like, 2) that the research results may not be favourable to the participants and how you will you act if that’s the case? Do you want to publish on it or address this differently? and 3) that you consider changes in the group of people you reached agreements with. New people may have different expectations. 

Some other wisdoms that were shared in the group:

• Be clear about mutual expectations and engage participants with the outcomes.
• There are no shortcuts, it will take time. In one project a social inclusion officer of the municipality who understood our mission helped a lot to be able to 'translate' to the rest of the group and appreciate the process. If you can find such a champion, they may be able to help you bridge the gap between different actors and represent your case.
• Try to make observations about dynamics and share these with the participants. This can help to create a more open conversation about dynamics.
• Countering or acknowledging power relations can be done with 'soft skills' such as conflict resolution, empathizing, deep learning and listening. “I realized how important power dynamics are in engaged and transformative research when there are various stakeholders, such as researchers, institutions, companies, research funding institutions, and communities.”

Ethics of bias

“Questioning your own bias is important.”

Although science often strives to be ‘objective’, researchers are always bound by their backgrounds and values. Social and cultural perspectives always need to be considered, not just those of the research subjects but also of partners, colleagues, and yourself. “We need to understand the complexity within ourselves but also within other people. Researchers are not just a researcher, but also a citizen, and citizens also have jobs and knowledge beyond the label of ‘citizen’. This complexity may require ethical principles to evolve.”

It is preferable for the groups that play a role in the subject matter to be represented in a research project. However, volunteers are often people who are already involved in multiple initiatives on the topic and give a high-quality input that might not be representative of the community. When working with small groups participation can also be an issue as members may fear that their input can be linked to them.

You need to create an environment where everyone can speak openly. One researcher mentioned that opening up on a personal level during the Covid pandemic really helped to build connections with participants and make it meaningful. It made the interactions feel less professional (researcher) versus personal (participant). Online meetings do have an advantage in that sense: “Everyone fits the small square: this makes it more equal.”

Snippets of advice:

• It's good to appreciate different roles of everyone involved.
• Read more about ‘deep listening’ and learn how to do it.
• There is always someone who knows more than you because they experience it in daily life.
• Incorporating your personality in your academic writing helps to account for and acknowledge some of your biases.

Key take-aways

There are things we can do to prevent getting blocked by dilemmas. One of these is conducting an ethical risk assessment before starting the research. Hopefully this blog gives you some food for thought in that regard. Yet in most research, especially in transformative/engaged collaborations, dilemmas will occur anyway, and one must find a way to deal with them. One thing you can do is consulting members of the Research Ethics Review Committee of your School or University. We hope to continue exploring this topic, so do reach out if you have thoughts on how to help researchers handle ethical dilemmas in engaged research.

Relevant links and sources

• For more information about ethics review at EUR, send an e-mail to ethics@eur.nl
• We recommend you read https://www.eur.nl/en/news/research-ethics-what-it-and-why-it-matters
• DIT platform: sign up for our newsletter and check out our website! Join the conversation on transformative research via Slack.
• UNIC: find out more about UNIC for Engaged Research via the UNIC website and UNIC Newsletters