Transcript www.hrelp.org

Ethical Issues
in Linguistic Fieldwork
Yuni Kim
University of Manchester
yuni.kim@manchester.ac.uk
Ethical review
➲
Linguistic field research typically requires
ethical approval
➲
Proposals must be submitted to university
committees before any research starts
➲
“Protection of human subjects”
➲
What ethical problems do you need to
address in your statement – that is, in
planning your research?
Why me? Why my project?
➲
Some research clearly needs human
subjects review: testing novel medicines;
inducing distress in psychological studies
➲
Phonetics: tracheal punctures
➲
Linguistic fieldwork? Talking to people?
➲
Ethical issues do require careful thought...
➲
… even more so because fieldwork IS
different, and standard protocols are not
always appropriate
Some basic principles
➲
Don’t do anything against someone’s will
➲
Don’t inconvenience people or do things
that will make them regret working with you
➲
Reciprocity
➲
Do be sensitive to local culture and
community dynamics, and your place in it
➲
Be respectful and keep an open mind
➲
Concrete ways of following these principles
may be highly situation-specific
The Planning Stage


Deciding what language or language variety
to work on
Motivations: general-linguistic, cultural,
specific-linguistic... adventure...

Will you and your work be welcome?

Are your goals ethically feasible?


Essential to make preliminary contacts and
feel out the situation; avoid pressuring
Cf. colonialist/imperialist paradigm
Permission to Research



A privilege, not a right
Will you need official consent from
community leaders (e.g. chief, elders)?
How do you build trust – a prerequisite?




Sincerity necessary, but usually not sufficient
Intermediate contacts who are already known
and trusted in the community
Invest time building relationships with people
Effects of power asymmetries
Informed Consent
➲
When you find people willing to work with
you, you must obtain informed consent
➲
Advance understanding of what you are
doing, and what they will be asked to do
➲
Be specific
➲
Freedom to withdraw at any time
➲
Overt agreement to participate
➲
Must be documented
Written vs. Oral Consent


Ethical review committees often want to see
a signed, contract-like document
Not appropriate to many field situations




What if people don’t read and write?
Can create rather than relieve suspicion “signing away rights”
Oral agreements may be held in higher esteem
Reading a prepared statement?
Obtaining Oral Consent




Better: have a natural conversation where
you explain everything, ask for permission
This is an important conversation to have –
it’s not just for the committee
You need to judge the success of the
communication, their ability to give consent
You can have natural conversations first,
then ask to record a less natural version
Anonymity





Generic “human subjects” protocols require
you to guarantee anonymity
Not always appropriate for fieldwork
People may want to be acknowledged; you
may want to acknowledge them
Alternatively, there may be cultural or
personal reasons not to use names
You need to find out what they want
Making Recordings
➲
Always need informed consent to record
➲
Why would anyone do covert recording?

People get unnatural when the mike’s out

Spontaneous events – no time to stop and ask

You don’t know if they’d give permission, but it’s
reeeaaally good/valuable material
➲
These reasons generally don’t fly
➲
Use a less obtrusive microphone... be
patient and continue to develop trust
Making Recordings
➲
Unforeseen sensitive topics can come up
➲
Participants should be able to stop
recording at any time, or ask to delete
material after it’s been recorded
➲
Passers-by: unintentional covert recording
➲
In such cases, it may be acceptable to get
post-hoc consent, as soon as possible
Access to Recordings
➲
What happens to the recordings?
➲
Who will be able to listen to them? Just
you? Local people? Anyone at all?
➲
Archiving

Public vs. restricted access

Restrictions by type of material
➲
Try to foresee every possible future use or
audience and find out how the person feels
➲
Later, it may be impossible to get
permission
Compensation




How do you compensate people for the time
and expertise they share with you?
Monetary payment is common

By the hour/session/etc.

Presentation style matters
Pay well, but not so much that it creates the
potential for coercion
When working with different people, keep
“fairness” in mind
Non-monetary compensation

Some people may not want to accept money

Other ways to compensate people


Buying food, medicine

Doing housework or running errands

Find out how you can be useful
You may want to do this even if you are also
paying them
Wider Considerations


To what extent do ethics dictate the content
of your research?
What ethical obligations do you have to the
community – linguistic, sociopolitical?

General behavior: humility rarely regretted

Unforeseen issues: developing judgment

Balancing the desire to share expertise with
caution about imposing ideologies
Thank you!