Ethical Challenges in Visual Educational Research

In educational research, and social research more generally, visual methods pose specific ethical dilemmas that require both researchers and institutional ethical committees to creatively and reflexively consider research ethics guidelines and principles. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight how traditional approaches to applying research ethics principles are challenged by visual research approaches. Ethical challenges are inherently ‘grey’ rather than ‘black and white’, so this chapter will not supply solutions. Rather, we hope to make visible ethical challenges that are particularly relevant for visual research. We will use two devices for this:

We organise the chapter around three widely recognised principles for research ethics: benefit and harm, respect for persons and justice. This draws on the expertise of the first author (Kitty). We discuss specific challenges for visual research in relation to each principle, drawing on two research projects by the second author (Alison).

Principally our research focuses on young people who hold marginalised positions in society, with a particular interest for Kitty in relation to the ethics of such research and human research in general. She has experience as an active member of university human research ethics committees and has published two books on research ethics: one in relation to youth research (Te Riele & Brooks 2013) and the other on education research (Brooks, Te Riele & Maguire 2014).