The CRN was delighted to welcome Professor Carol Mutch to give a masterclass on ‘Ethics and Approaches when Research Children and Young People in Sensitive Contexts’, which included information on the setting up, implementation and closing of research projects.
Carol Mutch is a Professor of Critical Studies in Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her research has focused on the role played by schools in disasters and crises in the Asia-Pacific region using qualitative, narrative and arts-based methods. Given the sensitive nature of working with traumatised children and young people in these contexts, she has needed to devise creative ways to elicit rich and authentic data that are ethically and methodologically sound.
Carol outlined what she has learned about working in sensitive contexts and shared examples of the complexities she and her colleagues have faced as they worked through the different phases:
The setting up phase -- designing the study and building a team, considering the ethical and methodological challenges, selecting sites/ participants and contacting gatekeepers, and building relationships with trusted (and trusting) allies.
The implementation phase -- maintaining an ethical stance, working in culturally appropriate ways, creative problem solving while upholding methodological rigour, sustaining relationships and navigating the unexpected,
The closing phase -- exiting the site with grace, conducting analysis in ways that honour the data and the participants, keeping promises (regarding data use and analysis, sharing findings, updating sites/participants), completing reporting obligations, disseminating findings and upholding any reciprocal agreements.
The masterclass was held in the O'Brien Centre for Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.
