Ethics in Qualitative Research: A Response-able Intra-action
Keywords:
ethics in qualitative research; Pakistan; India; Partition-1947; British IndiaAbstract
This study attempts to re/configure the regulation of qualitative research by ethics systems practiced in Pakistan by contextualizing it in international practices. Barad’s ethico-onto-epistemological approach facilitates a nuanced understanding of issues through its affirmative engagement with the other. While acknowledging the Pakistani scientific community’s awareness of the importance of ethics, a need for separate ethics boards for qualitative research is impressed upon. Some problematic terms like ‘research involving humans’ and practices like using ready-made restrictive templates have to be re/thought. The study also suggests drawing upon creative literature like novels, dramas, etc. in research proposals as it can help convince committees about the importance of researching lesser-studied topics, especially those which are related to a region’s or society’s contentious past and present. Finally, the response-able role of university faculty associations is emphasized.
References
Academic Freedom and Freedom of Science. Seminar and training, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France.
Adeed, F. (Feb. 28, 2022). Academic freedom and the future of democracy in Pakistan. The Friday Times. https://thefridaytimes.com/28-Feb-2022/academic-freedom-and-the-future-ofdemocracy-in-pakistan
Afzaal, H., M., Ahmed, S., Ahmad, W., Aslam, S., Yousaf, M., S., Darazi, M., A., & Lodhi, K. (2024). Investigating the relationship between academic freedom and institutional autonomy in Pakistani universities. Remittances Review, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 458-484.
Agha Khan University. (2024). Ethics review committee for social sciences, humanities, and arts, 2024. Agha Khan University. https://www.aku.edu/research/urc/erc/Pages/erc-ssha.aspx
Asad, N. & Ahmad, R. (2022). An analysis of the right of freedom of speech and expression: A case study of Pakistan. Current Trends in Law and Society, Volume 2, Number 1, 2022, Pages 09 – 22.
Asif M, Memon R, Khoso AB, un Nisa Z, Husain N. (2024). Ethical concerns of research ethics committees in suicide research: A qualitative study from Pakistan. BJPsych Open, 10(S1):S62-S63. doi:10.1192/bjo.2024.207
Asif, F., Sultan, F., Masood, I., Baig, S., Ekmecki, P., E., Vaswani, V., Bhutta, Z., & Crawley, F. (2023). A scoping review of the literature of research ethics committees and ethics review framework in Pakistan: what we know and what we still need to learn. Journal of Pak Med Assoc., vol. 73(8), pp.1667-1674. doi: 10.47391/JPMA.8033.
Barad, K. (2003). Posthuman performativity – toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter. Signs Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 28(3), 801–831. https://investigatingdrawinggh.wordpress.com/2018/07/01/karen-barad-2003-posthumanperformativity/
Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham: Duke Press.
Barad, K. (2014). Diffracting diffraction: Cutting together-apart. Parallax 20 (3): 168–187. doi:10.1080/13534645.2014.927623.
Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University Press.
Bhattacharya, N. (2012). Contagion and enclaves: Tropical medicine in Colonial India. OUP.
Bhattacharya, N. (2013). European civilians and for the British troops in the army, leisure,
Biswas, S. (June 18, 2024). Will India's Booker Prize-winning author face jail for a 14-year-old remark? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ggyz13m2po
Bozalek, V., & Murris, K. (2022). Diffraction. In K. Murris (Ed.), A Glossary for Doing Post
Burn, R., Cotton, J., S., & Meyer, W., S. (1908). Imperial gazetteer of India provincial series, vol, 21. Superintendent of Government Printing.
Carpenter, D. (2018). Ethics, reflexivity and virtue. In R. Iphofen and M. Tolich (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Ethics, pp. 35-70.
Dawson, A. J. (2006). A messy business: qualitative research and ethical review. Clinical Ethics, vol.1(2):114-116. doi:10.1258/14777500677725455
Dingwall, R. (2006). Confronting the antidemocrats: The unethical nature of ethical regulation in social science. Medical Sociology Online, 1, pp. 51–58.
Dyer, S. and Demeritt, D. (2009). Un-ethical review? Why it is wrong to apply the medical
economy and colonial urbanism: Darjeeling, 1835-1930. Urban History, 40(3): 442–61.
Edwards, R. & Mauthner, M. (2012). Ethics and feminist Research: Theory and practice. In,
FQPPU. (2024). Research Ethics and Academic Freedom Committee on Academic Freedom. https://fqppu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/202402_COPLA_Avisno6_VE.pdf
Gibson, A., L. (2023). Working-class Raj colonialism and the making of class in British India. CUP.
Hammersley, M. (2010). Creeping ethical regulation and the strangling of research. Sociological Research Online, 15(4), 123-125. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.2255
Hedgecoe, A. 2016. Reputational risk, academic freedom and research ethics review. Sociology, 50(3), pp. 486–501.
Hennink , M., Hutter, I., & Bailey, A. (2010). Qualitative research methods. SAGE
Hunter, D.(2018). Research Ethics Committees – What Are They Good For? In R. Iphofen and M. Tolich (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research ethics, pp. 289-299.
Islam, M.R. (2024). Research ethics in social science: An overview. In: von Feigenblatt, O.F., Islam, M.R. (eds) Ethics in Social Science Research. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9881-0_1
Israel, M. (2018). Ethical imperialism? Exporting research ethics to the Global South. In R. Iphofen and M. Tolich (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Ethics, pp. 89-102.
Jafarey A, Shekhani S, Raza F, Naz S. (2023). Situation analysis of research ethics governance in Pakistan. East Mediterr Health J., vol. 29(7), pp. 500-507. doi: 10.26719/emhj.23.069. PMID:37553736
Jalal, A. (1994). The sole spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the demand for Pakistan. Cambridge University Press.
Kara, H. (2018). Democratizing research in practice. In R. Iphofen and M. Tolich (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Ethics, pp. 103-114.
Kinzelbach, K., Lindberg, S., I & Lott, L. (2024). Academic freedom index 2024 update. FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and V-Dem Institute. DOI: 10.25593/open-fau-405 https://academic-freedom-index.net/research/Academic_Freedom_Index_Update_2024.pdf
Kipling, R. (1885). William the Conqueror, part 1. The Gentlewoman. https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/pdf/KJ385.pdf
Kuszewska, A. (2022). The India-Pakistan conflict in Kashmir and human rights in the context of post-2019 political dynamics. Asian Affairs, 53(1), 198–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2022.2041288
Landström, K. (2024). On epistemic freedom and epistemic injustice. Inquiry, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2024.2323561
Lern, P. (2022, May 7). India ‘weaponises’ higher education by rejecting Pakistan degrees.
Lewis, M. (2008). New strategies of control: Academic freedom and research ethics Boards. Qualitative Inquiry, 14(5), 684-699. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800408314347
LUMS, Institutional review board. (2024). Institutional Review Board. https://or.lums.edu.pk/institutional-review-board-irb
Masood, E. (2018). A 100th birthday wish: uphold academic freedom in dark times. Nature, vol. 563, (7733), 621+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A573192230/HRCA?u=anon~ec26c96e&sid=googleScholar&xid=c4491ff6
Mathuner, N. S. (2018). A posthumanist ethics of mattering: New materialisms and the ethical practice of inquiry. In R. Iphofen and M. Tolich (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Ethics, pp. 51-72.
model of research governance to human geography. Progress in Human Geography, 33(1): 46–64.
practical aspects. Anales de Pediatría (English Edition), vol. 99 (3), pp.195-202 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anpede.2023.06.016
Pradhan, Q. (2007). Empire in the hills: The making of hill stations in Colonial India. Studies in History, 23(1), 33-91. https://doi.org/10.1177/025764300602300102
Qadri, H. M., Shahid, R., Fatima, S. B., Naveed, N., Khizar, A., Haq, S. U., Khan, Z. M., Bashir, A., Khawaja, A. A., Khan, F., Ali, A., Ullah, Z., Rao, E., Basir, M. Y., Iqbal, I. K., Abbas, F., Malik, M. J. A., & Nawaz, J. (2024). Knowledge, attitude and perception of research ethics and research ethics committees among post-graduate residents of neurosciences - a nationwide analysis from Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 40,12, pp. 55-62. https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.12(PINS).11116
Qualitative, New Materialist and Critical Post Humanist Research Across Disciplines, pp. 82-83, Routledge.
quantitative methods in biomedical research]. (1999). J Pediatr, 75(6):401-6. doi: 10.2223/jped.335. PMID: 14685495.
Sánchez, G. S., Bezhold, G., A. & Farnós, I. A. (2023). Research ethics: From principles to
Santos SR. Métodos qualitativos e quantitativos na pesquisa biomédica [Qualitative and
Shukla, A. (2020). Theoretical underpinnings of India–Pakistan relations. India Quarterly, 76(2), 294-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974928420917785 (Original work published 2020)
Shweder, R. A. (2006). Protecting human subjects and preserving academic freedom: Prospects at the University of Chicago. American Ethnologist, 33(4), pp. 507-518. http://www.jstor.org/stable/409888
Steel, F., A., Gardiner, G., Crane, R. & Johnston, A. (1862) The complete Indian housekeeper and cook, (republished 2011). Oxford University Press.
Taquette, S. R., & Borges da Matta Souza, L. M. (2022). Ethical dilemmas in qualitative research: A critical literature review. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221078731 UNESCO. June 28, 2023).
Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/india-weaponises-highereducation-rejecting-pakistan-degrees
Tina Miller, Maxine Birch, Melanie Mauthner, Julie Jessop (Eds.) Ethics in Qualitative Research. https://methods.sagepub.com/book/edvol/ethics-in-qualitative-research-2e/chpt/ethicsfeminist-research-theory-practice
Zhang, J. J. (2020). Human geography. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Second Edition), pp. 299-302 https://www.sciencedirect.com/referencework/9780081022962/international-encyclopedia-ofhuman-geography
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
