Ethics in Contemporary Ethnographic Research  Changes On Branch ede264ff8084be51

Contemporary ethnographic research continues the tradition of ethnographic inquiry in anthropology and sociology, but has some distinguishing characteristics. We will discuss the past and present of ethnographic research and how at every stage it involves decisions where ethical concerns are at stake, forcing us to ask what "the good" is in society and how we are meant to act. Further, we will cover the current research ethics regime, where it comes from, what it entails, what it looks like in practice, and why it is at times contested.

## Tutorial

Homework
: - Find the ethics code of an anthropological or sociological association in your home country or region and read it with Mutaru (2018) at the back of your mind.










- Ask yourself: How well do you think the code could guide you when dealing with emerging ethical dilemmas? Jot down some notes.

# Week 2

## Lecture

Location
: Kamerlingh Onnes A1.44

Readings
: - Bratich (2017)
- Thomas-Hébert (2019)
- Mejias and Couldry (2019)

Whether we like it or not, we live in data-saturated environments. The lecture will present concepts for thinking about this situation, introduce cases that illustrate risks that result for individuals and groups, and discuss some implications for the conduct of ethnographic research.

# Week 3

## Lecture

Location
: Kamerlingh Onnes A1.44

Readings
: - Markham (2012)
- De Seta (2020)

We have discussed challenges we face as we want to conduct ethnographic research in an ethical manner in today's world. But what can we do as researchers to put ethical principles into practice? How can we avoid causing harm and protect those in the field, ourselves included? We will draw on a range of practices and literatures to think through ways of "hacking" ethnography.

## Tutorial



Homework
: - Come up with a fictional ethnographic research project and complete the [EFF risk assessment](https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/your-security-plan) for that hypothetical scenario. Think about what skills or tools you would need to mitigate the risks you identified.
- Browse some of the following resources and write down a few ideas for what you would like to work on for your second assignment:
    - <https://defendourmovements.org/resources/>
    - <https://myshadow.org/>
    - <https://securityinabox.org/en/>
    - <https://totem-project.org/>

During tutorials, you will discuss and plan the [second assignment](../assignments/2.md). This will require forming groups with two or three other students in your tutorial group and coming up with a contribution to the Hacking Ethnography collection.

# Week 4

## Lecture

Location
: Kamerlingh Onnes A1.44

Readings
: - Cohen (2005)

In this lecture, we will be joined by **Zinzy Waleson Geene** for a conversation about navigating ethical and other considerations as a researcher in industry.

About our guest speaker:

> [Zinzy Waleson Geene](https://www.zinzy.website/) is a researcher and designer specialized in building products for people at work. She taught herself to build websites when she was a child, and has 16 years of professional experience in research, design, and development. She likes to think about what "research" means in a business context, and how academia can help make it better.



## Tutorial

During tutorials, you will have a chance to show off what you made for assignment 2. You will also discuss ethical issues you might encounter as industry researchers.

Homework
: - If possible, bring a hardcopy of your group assignment.
- Learn about the Crisis Text Line scandal by reading McNeil (2022) and at least one additional source of your own choice. Take some notes to prepare for a discussion in tutorials.

# Week 5

## Lecture

Location
: Kamerlingh Onnes A1.44

Readings
: - Chin (2021)
- Jarzabkowski et al. (2014)

For this session we are honored to welcome Dr. **Andrew Hoffman**, the Faculty of Social Sciences data steward, who will speak from his vantage point about data management, its institutionalization and professionalization in contemporary academic research, its relation to ethnography---but especially what it looks like in practice and why it can be a helpful skill even if you don't intend to become an academic researcher.

About our guest speaker:

> [Andrew Hoffman](https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/andrew-hoffman) had an early career as a research data coordinator in academic cancer medicine before going on to complete a doctoral degree in sociology/social studies of medicine at McGill University. Over the course of two subsequent postdoctoral fellowships, Andrew studied and collaborated with researchers, data scientists, and software engineers on the development of new knowledge infrastructures, predominantly in the domain of translational science.
>
> Combining training as an ethnographer with dedication to user-centered design, Andrew aims to make data management policies and workflows legible, useful for, and responsive to the values and practices of social science researchers working across the methodological spectrum. As a Data Steward, his primary responsibility is to liaise with researchers and support staff in Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology and the Centre for Science & Technology Studies (CWTS) to address research data management needs spanning the whole project lifecycle.

**No tutorials this week.**

Homework
: - Put some of this week's lessons into action by rethinking how you organize your own files and folders. You have a [backup](https://www.worldbackupday.com/), right?

# Week 6

## Lecture

Location
: Kamerlingh Onnes A1.44

Readings
: - Fassin (2013) 
- Reyes (2017)
- Dilger et al. (2018)
- De Koning et al. (2019)

Researchers have a responsibility to address issues of public concern, and critical scholars in particular have the ambition of making public interventions. This requires finding formats for scholarly communication that can reach the public, but also resisting tendencies that enclose scholarly knowledge behind paywalls or within proprietary systems. In that sense, ethnographers are champions of opening up our work. The demand to be "open" can also be a challenge to those conducting critical research, particularly for ethnographers who are unable to share their data or be totally transparent about their research process. We will discuss a variety of ethical issues that are at stake in this tension.

You will also have a chance to ask questions about [assignment 3](../assignments/3.md) following the final lecture.

**No tutorials this week.**