Online Groups as Research Context: Ethical Dilemmas
Location
Room 2057
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
January 2013
End Date
January 2013
Abstract
Due to divergent views of the ‘public’ nature Internet groups, the ethics of approaching them as qualitative data sources can be ambiguous. We discuss our own ethical decisions around studying the talk in an online grief support group. We also review how other published studies justified use of Internet group data, the terms of service agreements of online forums, and ethics guides of professional organizations. Finally, we make recommendations about ethical practices in these environments.
Online Groups as Research Context: Ethical Dilemmas
Room 2057
Due to divergent views of the ‘public’ nature Internet groups, the ethics of approaching them as qualitative data sources can be ambiguous. We discuss our own ethical decisions around studying the talk in an online grief support group. We also review how other published studies justified use of Internet group data, the terms of service agreements of online forums, and ethics guides of professional organizations. Finally, we make recommendations about ethical practices in these environments.
Comments
Breakout Session E