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Social Media, Social Science &Research Ethics
Dr Janet Salmons,Kandy Woodfield
Kandy WoodfieldHead of Learning &DevelopmentNatCen Social ResearchNSMNSS Network leader
Janet Salmons, Ph.D.Network memberCapella University Core Faculty,Researcher, Writer & Consultantthrough Vision2Lead. Author,Online Interviews in Real Timeand Cases in Online InterviewResearch.
New Social Media, New SocialScience - Blurring the boundaries?
InnovationCollaboration
InspirationFresh thinkingNetwork of methodological
innovationFunded by NCRMMay 2012-May 2013
Aims of the network InnovationCollaboration
InspirationFresh thinkingOn & off line community of practice
Forge links between academics, practitioners& across disciplinesCatalyse debate - address challenges social mediapresent for social science researchShare approaches, tools & experiences of using socialmediaIdentify good practice: co-created content & guidance tobe shared with the wider community
76%employed34% students
75% HE sector25% other
65% in UK35% worldwide
58% female42% male
461 members
20 disciplinary fields
How it works? InnovationCollaboration
InspirationFresh thinkingNetwork activities across a range
of platforms:Home page: http://www.natcen.ac.uk/nsmnss/Methodspace:http://www.methodspace.com/group/nsmnss/forumTwitter: @NSMNSS, #NSMNSSBlogs: http://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NSMNSS
Face to face events
Over 5,322minutes of
video watched
3 0nline seminars4 knowledge exchange
seminars
7 themed twitter chats
66 blog posts
12 months…
1,194 videoviews onYou Tube
37,761 blog page views
2conferences
Ethical issues in socialmedia research
Persisting uncertainty ‘getting it right’ ethicallyEthical dilemmas - lack of consistent, relevantguidance, conflicting opinionsWhat are the key political, ethical, legal issues?Are they different for online to offline research?Do we understand the digital world well enoughto make these choices?
Lack of research with users of social mediaplatforms or engagement with platform providers
Survey of NSMNSS members
N:67
How do you make decisions about researchethics?
68%59% 56%
39%33%
Do you feel the guidelines you useare up-to-date and adequate foronline researchers?
YES
NO
NOT SURE
33%
30%
37%
Issues?
Privacy & anonymityof participants
Sampling &recruitment
Informed consentResearcher identity,
rapport &relationships
User-generatedcontent (text &
images) as data
Date ownership& data security
What is public & private?What is your responsibility as aresearcher?Do ethics differ between ‘public’platforms/spaces & ‘walled gardens’?What does online informed consent looklike?Is it wrong if I lurk and observe?
Twitter chats
Resolving ethicaldilemmas requires“holistic” approachengaging views ofmany disciplines
Research ethics = one tilein mosaic of technological,
political, cultural &individual complexity
Cultural competencies& flexibility neededwhen dealing with
multicultural participants
Need for cross-institutional‘standardization’ of IRBboards?
Social media areplural, no single
methods – ethicsdecisions mustbe context andmethod specific
Encouragementfor researchers topublish methods/
ethical casestudies, failures &
successes
What are the main gaps, areas needingclarification?
“ I think they would all benefit from attention and clarity”
74%75%72%
68%
65%
62%
60%57% 51% 46%
43%
42%
35%32%
32%
What research ethics resources would be mostuseful?
72%
69%
48%
39%
38%
36%
33%
28%
25%
Preliminary observations
Multi-disciplinary, multi-method approaches toresearch ethics are needed, while respecting theinfluence of disciplinary codes and work of associations
Ongoing development is needed as approaches willevolve with changes in technology and usage – staticcodes won’t work
Need to engage those who teach, review & edit: the“gatekeepers.”
Need to encourage scholars to explain & discuss theirmethods, so we can learn from each other about the“how” and “why” of research with online and social mediamethods.
Resources suggested bynetwork members
GovernmentDoing the right thing (DWP guidelines)
Professional Associations
• AOIR
• BERA
• MRS/MRA
Books & articles
Market research•ESOMAR•CASRO
Most mentioned issues & resourcesAOIR Ethics Guidelines(Markham, Buchanan, & Committee,
2012)
British EducationalResearch Association
(Jones, 2011)
Esomar: Market andSocial Research
(ESOMAR, 2008; Phillips et al., 2011)
Collecting data from Tweets, blogs, social media communities:consent or disclosure?
What are public versus private spaces online?
Protecting anonymity when using online quotations inresearch reports
Collecting data from Tweets,blogs, social media communities:consent or disclosure?
AOIR EthicsGuidelines (Markham,
Buchanan, & Committee,2012)
British EducationalResearch Association
(Jones, 2011)
Esomar: Market &Social Research
(ESOMAR, 2008; Phillips et al.,2011)
Collectingdata fromTweets,
blogs, socialmedia
communities:consent ordisclosure?
Because all digitalinformation at some point
involves individualpersons, consideration of
principles related toresearch on human
subjects may benecessary even if it is not
immediately apparenthow and where persons
are involved in theresearch data. (p. 4)
Social networking and otheron-line activities, including
their video-basedenvironments, present
challenges for considerationof consent issues and the
participants must be clearlyinformed that their
participation and interactionsare being monitored andanalysed for research.
If consent has not beenobtained researchers mustensure that they report onlydepersonalised data fromsocial media sources. Ifresearchers are using
automated data collectionservices, they are
recommended to use filtersand controls to remove
personal identifiers such asuser names, photos, links to
the user’s profile, etc.
What are public versus privatespaces online?
AOIR Ethics Guidelines(Markham, Buchanan, & Committee,
2012)
British EducationalResearch
Association(Jones, 2011)
Esomar: Market andSocial Research
(ESOMAR, 2008; Phillips etal., 2011)
What arepublicversusprivatespacesonline?
Individual and cultural definitionsand expectations of privacy areambiguous, contested, andchanging. People may operate inpublic spaces but maintainstrong perceptions orexpectations of privacy. Or,acknowledge that thecommunication is public, but thatthe specific context in which itappears implies restrictions. (p.6-7)
Not addressed. Public social media:This covers the majorityof social media. Itincludes all placeswhere entry is withoutany form of barrier.
Private social media:This covers areaswhere the user or thewebsite do not want thedata to be publicallyaccessible. All requireusername identificationfor access
Protecting anonymity inreporting AOIR Ethics
Guidelines (Markham,Buchanan, & Committee,
2012)
British EducationalResearch
Association(Jones, 2011)
Esomar: Market &Social Research
(ESOMAR, 2008; Phillips etal., 2011)
Protectinganonymity whenusing quotationsin researchreports?
• How are findingspresented?
• What immediate orfuture risk might occurby using exact-quotedmaterial in publishedreports?
• Are individualsadequately protected inpre-publication reports,such as workshops,conferences, orinformal meetings?
• Is the data easilysearchable andretrievable?
In qualitative researchone way to protect
participants is throughnarrative and creativemeans, which might
require the fictionalisingof aspects of the
research or the creationof composite accounts,
such as in vignettes,providing generalizedfeatures based on anumber of specific
accounts
Where [consent] is notpossible their analysismust only be withdepersonalised data.
If researchers wish toquote publicly madecomments they must firstcheck if the user’s identitycan be easilydiscoverable using onlinesearch services. If it can,they must makereasonable efforts toeither seek permissionfrom the user to quotethem or mask thecomment.
Ethics – interim thoughtsAre the ethics of social media researchthat different really?Do we need separate guidelines?Paper written up, including comparisons ofthe codes by the end of the summerWorking with SRA ethics group aroundguidanceMore research with users of social mediato better understand what peoplewant/expect or need in regard to ethics
Thank youIf you want further information orwould like to contact the network:
[email protected] us @nsmnss
