Knowledge Bank for Ethical Practice in Qualitative Longitudinal Research

The element of time in QL research is a complicating factor in the ethical conduct of a study, but can also facilitate good ethical practice. Resources produced within Timescapes on the ethics of QL research are listed below.

• Timescapes Methods Guide no. 11: Neale, B. and Hanna, E. (2012) The Ethics of Researching Lives Qualitatively Through Time
• Timescapes Methods Guide no. 18: Neale, B. and Bishop, L. (2012) The Ethics of Archiving and Re-Using Qualitative Longitudinal Data: A Stakeholder Approach
• Hughes, K.: Ethics and Qualitative Longitudinal Research: A Special Case

Knowledge Bank

The Knowledge Bank is a useful resource for researchers and doctoral students who are using or planning to use Qualitative Longitudinal (QL) methods, enabling a productive sharing of knowledge and good practice. We are inviting QL researchers - those who have conducted qualitative enquiry through or in relation to time - to contribute to this new methods resource. Contributions can range from how you attended to ethical considerations in the design of your research, to descriptions of how you managed specific ethical challenges that arose unexpectedly during your study.

Bill Bytheway and Joanna Bornat - Ethical issues during the Oldest Generation Project

Rosalind Edwards and Susie Weller - Dealing with the Death of a Participant: Ethical Dilemma Correspondence in a study of siblings and friends 

Carmen Lau Clayton - “You’re not a stranger but you are a stranger”: Reflections on the participant-researcher relationship in the Following Fathers Study

Ruth Patrick - The ‘gift’ relationship – an ethical dilemma in small-scale qualitative longitudinal research