TREADING ON A MINEFIELD – ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN

Abstract

The article discusses ethical dilemmas in qualitative research with children and proposes potential solutions. The conduct of social researchers is regulated by strict ethical standards, but studies of children are fraught with numerous doubts and pitfalls. The author describes ethical dilemmas during an ethnographic study of 5-year-olds, which investigated the peer learning process in preschoolers. The following ethical aspects of social research were discussed: a child’s informed consent to participate in a study, the risk of collecting unimportant research material, the observer effect and the risk of data bias, the risk of negative reinforcement in studies of children, data confidentiality and disclosure of the information relating to the study site. The dynamic character of research with children, the effect of context on ethical decision-making, and the need to balance the role of a researcher with other social roles were emphasized.