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Wednesday 18 March 2015

Module 2 session 17.3.15 Part 5 - thinking about ethics and planning ahead for the professional inquiry

Happy St Patrick's day.

We had a very good discussion about Part 5 and where people are in Module 2 on campus. Here are some highlights and a bit of rambling from questions/discussions in the last week...

Ethics - there are differences between ethics and other versions of 'right and wrongs' like morals. Many practitioners already have ethical considerations in their workplace, but the tasks help make it possible to actually seek the rules and regulations out to read again. There is always more to learn about ethical practice...

2 main points to think about for ethical practice in Part 5
1. ethics for your professional practice - so the rules and regulations that you abide by in your professional roles or workplace
2. the ethical practice that is required to undertake your professional inquiry  - doing this you actually talk to members of the public (in Module 3!)

Who will you want to talk to about this experience?  In this module you are having informal trials at the different tools - so are just really trying out the various methods - like interviews - with friends or with others in your special interest groups or on BAPP Arts...

Planning involves learning about permissions in your workplace, gatekeepers, informed consent, etc. we  are pretty careful about the involvement of children under 16 - so be aware of this and look up the BERA guidelines suggested

There is a lot in Reader 5 and other articles on offer in the Reading list - scan these and read the ones that can help you with your inquiry planning.

Ethical practice DIRECTLY relates to who is is you want to talk to? and that depends on your 'research statement' - your area of interest/topic/context/issues? with your practitioner research questions - what you want to find out about the area of interest.

The plan/proposal that you design (NOTE - the outline/headings list for the plan is in the Module 2 Handbook) takes into account some type of activity/outcome that you accomplish using the practitioner research - what you found out. This is where the aims/objectives come in about the outcomes.

Think about planning other things like a trip..



An aim might be to go on holiday to Brittany - so an objective would be to learn to drive so that you can drive to the holiday. You might do some practitioner research - what is the surest way to learn to drive so that you can pass a driving test? you ask driving instructors and drivers who recently took the test and passed - and you take these findings and use some of the techniques to pass your driving test and then drive yourself to the holiday.

What permissions would you need to talk to driving instructors?
What permissions (informed consent) would you need to talk to learner drivers who passed the test?
How would you find the 'sample' (that represent greater number of people) of people - you can't talk to everyone who has passed their test in England! How you choose the people you talk to is important - that is also where the ethics form explains exactly who you want to talk to and why. The criteria you use - e.g. being a AA driving instructor - to choose your participants is a part of the ethical procedures.

The rule of thumb with research is not to bother people if research about your topic is already available -not usually the case but also look for other data-sets that might inform your inquiry - for example

for salary information:
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/dancer.aspx
This relates back to the 'sample' literature you have looked at to inform your planning.

There are also a number of good books online about research REFER TO THE Module 2 Reading List - go to the MyLearning site - or you can go directly to the Middlesex Library after you go into the MYUniHub.
Doing your research project: a guide for first-time researchers in education, health and social science - Judith Bell 2010  - EASY TO READ - SCAN FOR TOOLS/METHODS
How to research - Loraine BlaxterChristina HughesMalcolm Tight2010GOOD EXPLANATIONS
Doing work based research: approaches to enquiry for insider-researchers - Carol CostleyGeoffrey ElliottPaul Gibbs c2010 (electronic resource) GOOD FOR INSIDER RESEARCH ADVICE
Doing practitioner research - Mark FoxGill GreenPeter J. Martin 2007 (electronic resource)
Book  - GOOD FOR PROFESSIONAL VALUES - ANOTHER TAKE ON ETHICAL PRACTICE - LOOK THIS UP ON THE LIBRARY CATALIGUE - FOR SOME REASON THIS WAS NOT ON THE LIST - BUT WILL SOON BE (NEXT WEEK) SO TO GET THIS NOW GO DIRECTLY TO THE LIBRARY 


It would be god to scan these - and go back to them if there are points about the practitioner  research that you want to understand more or to plan better...

Some advice about what put on your action list...
http://youtu.be/-xcJOLcaEFQ

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this Paula, these links are proving especially useful. Ethics is such a complex subject I am finding reading everyones different takes on it on their blogs very interesting.

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  2. yes - professional values can sometimes be embedded in practice - but doing the practitioner research element of the inquiry takes consideration of the people in involved...

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