Paper details

Paper authors	Birte Vogel
In panel on	From Board to Reality: The Practice of Research Ethics Reviews in Conflict Settings
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Birte Vogel and Larissa Fast

In March 2020 the COVID pandemic closed borders, forcing researchers to adapt. Like many, we scrambled to pivot and identify scholarly resources that discussed how researchers have adapted their research design and methodologies. Soon it became clear that many researchers started to rely on remote methods or local research assistants.

Remote and collaborative research poses a range of ethical challenges rarely considered by researchers. Because these approaches will likely expand in future, we must consider their implications. This paper explores four pathways and reflects on the ethical challenges of field research for a time when travel is less possible or justifiable, even as humanitarian and conflict researchers strive to remain attentive to local dynamics.

While scholars have reflected on their practical implications, few turn to the ethical dimensions. These include issues of ‘researching the other’ which connect to debates of decolonising research and research methods precisely because they call for increased cooperation between researchers in different locales. The paper contributes to a culture of reflection on our own research and positionality, and their impacts on knowledge production and, most importantly, the people with whom we engage in the research process.

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