THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS IN ELECTRONIC QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Nouhad J. Rizk, Elias M. Choueiri

2006

Abstract

As a key form of communications technology, the internet has created new methodological approaches for social science research. This study focuses on moral issues created by information technology for qualitative research environments. The primary concern is with ethical analysis and legal issues and how both are applied to, although not limited to, issues of privacy, intellectual property, information access, interpersonal communication, moral and civil rights, responsibility and liability, and professional codes as well as some social implications of technology. The Internet is now exposed to a growing number and a wider variety of threats and vulnerabilities. Moreover, Internet-based research raises several ethical questions and introduces new ethical challenges, especially pertaining to privacy, informed consent and confidentiality and anonymity. This study aims to highlight the main ethical issues in electronic qualitative research and to provide some guidance for those doing or reviewing such research. While recognizing the reservations held about strict ethical guidelines for electronic qualitative research, this study opens the door for further debate of these issues so that the social science research community can move towards the adoption of agreed standards of good practice. In addition, it suggests that empirical research is desirable in order to quantify the actual risks to participants in electronic qualitative studies.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

J. Rizk N. and M. Choueiri E. (2006). THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS IN ELECTRONIC QUALITATIVE RESEARCH . In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS, ISBN 978-972-8865-43-6, pages 126-134. DOI: 10.5220/0002448301260134

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceis06,
author={Nouhad J. Rizk and Elias M. Choueiri},
title={THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS IN ELECTRONIC QUALITATIVE RESEARCH},
booktitle={Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS,},
year={2006},
pages={126-134},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002448301260134},
isbn={978-972-8865-43-6},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS,
TI - THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS IN ELECTRONIC QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
SN - 978-972-8865-43-6
AU - J. Rizk N.
AU - M. Choueiri E.
PY - 2006
SP - 126
EP - 134
DO - 10.5220/0002448301260134