Ethics in Contemporary Ethnographic Research  Check-in [e2dfc00b61]

# Week 1

## Lecture

Readings
: - Le Guin (1973)
- Mutaru (2018)

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.
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, and why it is at times contested.

**No tutorials yet this week.**

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Homework
: - Find the ethics code of an anthropological association in your home country or region and read it with Mutaru (2018) in the back of your mind.
: - Find the ethics code of an anthropological or sociological association in your home country or region and read it with Mutaru (2018) in the back of your mind.
- Read Kell (2021) and find at least one other story about the same issue.

During tutorials, you will study and discuss ethics guidelines of various professional associations. You will also discuss controversies around anthropology's historical entanglement with imperialist or settler-colonial projects and their perduring implications for research ethics.

# Week 2

## Lecture

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, discuss specific cases that illustrate risks that result for individuals and groups, and discuss some implications for the conduct of ethnographic research.
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.

## Tutorial

Homework
: - Read Powell (2018) and think about how to put the ideas discussed in the interview into practice.
- Find a news article about a recent data breach, or visit the [GDPR Enforcement Tracker](https://www.enforcementtracker.com/) and read about the details of at least one violation that was sanctioned by authorities in the Netherlands, your home country (if GDPR applies there), or another country of your choice. Come prepared to discuss the details of the case you read about.

# Week 3

## Lecture

Readings
: - Markham (2012)
- De Seta (2020)
- Mejias and Couldry (2019)

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.

# Week 4

## Lecture

Readings
: - tbd
: - TK

In this lecture, we will be joined by Dr. TK, an ethnographer who works as a UX researcher at TK.

## Tutorial

Homework
TK
: TK

Tutorials will provide an opportunity to TK.