Research Ethics and the Challenge of Research on the Web

The World Wide Web (WWW) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provide extensive new opportunities to engage in innovative and important research on a global and local scale, using conventional and web-enhanced research methods and reaching out to research participants and tackling research areas previously limited by space, time, location and accessibility. Web-based networks, virtual environments and web based approaches to research constitute new opportunities for researchers, both in researching these mediums and their impact on culture and society and as medium through which research can be conducted.

At the same time, the WWW and ICTs provide substantive challenges for those who have an interest in ethical research practice, whether researchers themselves or those with responsibility for research ethics governance or research integrity. This one day workshop will explore those new challenges and the different strategies and approaches to ensuring ethical standards are maintained.

Whilst the programme (detailed below) will cover all the main issues that the WWW and ICTs bring forward, one of the aims of the workshop will be to share experience, approaches to ethical research and issues and problems for ethical research, and to ensure that the workshop discussions are relevant to the needs of participants on the day.  The morning will provide a generic overview and the afternoon will focus on the ‘hot’ topics identified by participants. It will be assumed that participants have a basic grasp of issues in ethical research. All those who register are invited to identify:

• their discipline or field and the focus of their thesis (if postgraduates) or current research projects and,

• the ethical issues they have identified as being of concern inn researching on the WWW and with ICTs.

These details should be submitted to hrbookings@ul.ie by Thursday 25th May at 12.00pm to be considered in the final programme for the day.

Programme