Entering the field: ethical and methodological reflections
Prerequisiti
Recommended for 2nd year PhD.
Programma
1) Introduction to field research: ethnography
2) Introduction to field research: qualitative interviews
3) Power and ethics in social sciences: ethical guidelines for research
4) How to prepare an ethical self-assessment
5) Informed Consent Form: when to use it and how to elaborate it
6) Risk management and mitigation strategies: How to prepare and use risk assessments
Obiettivi formativi
The goal of this seminar is to provide 2nd year PhD students with a space for discussion, elaboration and learning regarding the planning and implementation of their fieldwork. Similarly to hte "After fieldwork" seminar does for the latter stage of the PhD, this seminar aims at discussing how to prepare and conduct qualitative fieldwork. The course aims at providing PhD students in the early stages of their fieldwork with ethical and methodological guidelines and knowledge about approaches and practices to guide their resaerch on the field.
A part of the course will be dedicated to methodological reflections on qualitative interviewing, ethnography/participantn observation and other field-based methods, discussing how to negotiate access to the field, how to sample participants, how to deal with anonymity and informed consent, and the like. The remaining hours will be dedicated to ethics and risk management in qualitative research. In these ends-on sessions, students will learn to develop an ethical self-assessment, draft an informed consent form, elaborate a risk assessment, and reflect upon the mitigation strategies to face challenges stemming from fieldwork. The structure of the seminar will be based on the attendee's own research work and needs, providing the possibility to discuss both with the teachers and with colleagues, the ethical and methodological implications of their planned fieldwork.