There are many research ethics courses available online and offline. You may have received ethics training in previous courses or research projects. Our goal for this course is to train social science researchers who will collect data related to child development in low- to middle-income countries. In this area of research, you may be working directly with children, parents, teachers, school administrators, and members of local communities. You may be working in homes, schools, communities, or collecting data online. Whatever the case may be, it is important to conduct research in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes harm to all involved.
TalkTogether is a UKRI-GCRF funded project from 2020-2022. It is an international collaboration among several institutions including the University of Oxford and The Promise Foundation in Bangalore. In this project, we are adopting frameworks, guidelines, and laws originally formulated in the UK and Europe, as listed below:
We think that the frameworks, guidelines, and laws above are useful for many places around the world. They are generally congruent with local policies in our research sites. As you go through the course, it is useful to think about existing ethical guidelines and requirements in your local organization or legal system. In some places, there may even be few or no ethics frameworks in place. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility as researchers to conduct our work at the highest standard.