Ethical research involving children : Putting the evidence into practice

• Published in: Family matters (Melbourne, Vic.) no. 96; pp. 23 - 28
• Main Authors: Graham, Anne, Powell, Mary Ann, Taylor, Nicola
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne Australian Institute of Family Studies 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Adolescents; Benefits; Child role; Child welfare; Childhood interests; Children; Children & youth; Childrens rights; Confidentiality; Consent; Demographic aspects; Ethical aspects; Ethical Research Involving Children project; Ethics; Families & family life; Funding; Interpretation and construction; Participation; Policy making; Primary secondary education; Research ethics; Research methodology; Researchers; Responsibility; Sociological research; Student participation; Studies; Youth; Australia
• ISSN: 1030-2646; 1832-8318

Undertaking research with children and young people gives rise to a number of ethical challenges, dilemmas and issues, both predictable and unforeseen. The stewardship of ethical research is the responsibility of everybody involved, including those engaged in funding, approving and undertaking it, as well as policy-makers and practitioners using research findings in their work. Consequently, there is a need for critical engagement by all stakeholders around some basic, but important, questions that are essentially ethical in nature and require close attention long before the research makes its way to any kind of ethics review committee. Such questions include, 'Does this research need to be done?' and 'Who will the research benefit and how?' The importance of these kinds of questions intensifies when the research involves children and young people: 'Is children's participation in the research necessary or can the information be obtained in other ways?'; 'What would be the likely [ethical] consequences of not involving children?' The Ethical Research Involving Children (ERIC) project has endeavoured to address these and many more questions that arise when funding, governing or undertaking research involving children. Following extensive research and consultation internationally, the print and web-based resources developed through the ERIC project (Graham, Powell, Taylor, Anderson and Fitzgerald, 2013) provide a useful framework for approaching these and multiple other considerations that are core to ensuring research involving children can justifiably be deemed 'ethical'. This article introduces the ERIC project and resources to Family Matters readers and invites further engagement, dialogue and sharing of experience in the continued international movement towards safe, respectful research that foregrounds children's dignity, rights and wellbeing, across all methodological, social and cultural contexts. [Author abstract]