Dr. Emma Williamson Research Fellow Violence Against Women Research Group

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Dr. Emma WilliamsonResearch FellowViolence
Against Women Research Group

• Ethics in multi-disciplinary research

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Issues specific to social science research

• Voluntary participation
• Informed consent of participants
• Informed and proxy consent of children
• Access to services
• Mandatory evaluation of services
• Confidentiality and anonymity
• Conflict of professional roles and governance
• Health, education, social care, research.

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Key initial questions

• Is the research necessary
• Could the money be better spent
• Do the benefits outweigh any potential harm
• How do you think about the participants
• How is that reflected in practice and research
• Is the research safe

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• Exploring the Service and Support Needs of Male,
  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered, Black
  and Other Ethnic Victims of Domestic and Sexual
  Violence, funded by the Home Office.
• Will be available early 2009.
• Professor Marianne Hester, Dr Emma Williamson
  and Dr Geetanjali Gangoli, plus colleagues from
  Manchester and London Metropolitan Universities.

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Ethical problems/issues

• Governance
• NHS REC for SARCs/psychologists
• Internal University review
• Benefits Harm
• Psychological
• Emotional
• Physical
• Ignored groups
• Additional benefits
• Identification
• Researcher (admin staff) safety
• Physical
• Emotional

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• Data protection
• Working across institutions
• Consent
• On-going
• Multi-method
• On-line
• Face-to-face (validity)
• Multiple identity
• Changing identity

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Domestic Violence Perpetrator Services
Evaluation(Hester Williamson Current)

• Safety of partners and children
• Emotional well being of perpetrators
• Reliability of accounts and potential risk if
  wrong
• Making respondents angry
• Researcher safety
• Governance of multi-agency team

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Further reading

• Williamson, E. Smyth, M. (2004) (Editors)
  Researchers and their "subjects" Ethics, power,
  knowledge and consent, Policy Press Bristol.
• Williamson, E. and the Domestic Violence Research
  Group (2004) "Domestic Violence and Research
  Ethics", in Smyth, M. Williamson, E. (2004)
  (Editors) Researchers and their "subjects"
  Ethics, power, knowledge and consent, Policy
  Press Bristol.
• Kent, J., Williamson, E., Goodenough, T.
  Ashcroft, R., (2002) 'Social Science gets the
  Ethics Treatment Research governance and ethical
  review' Sociological Research Online, Vol. 7,
  Issue 4.

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• Williamson, E., Goodenough, T., Kent, J.,
  Ashcroft, R., (2004) "Conducting Research With
  Children The limits of confidentiality and child
  protection protocols", in Children and Society.
• Williamson, E. (2004) "Research, Tears and Audio
  Tape" in Hallowell, N., Lawton, J., Gregory, S.
  (eds) Reflections on Research The realities of
  doing research in the social sciences, O.U.P.
• Williamson.E. (2000) 'Caught in contradictions
  Conducting feminist action orientated research
  within an academic evaluated research programme',
  in Radford.J., Friedberg.M., Harne.L. (Eds)
  Women, Violence and Strategies for action
  Feminist Research, Policy and Practice. Milton
  Keynes Open University Press.