Workshop
Research Ethics in Biogrphy Research
University of Crete, Rethymnon, Campus Gallou
Friday 29th – Saturday 30th May 2020
Greek Association of Oral History
Section Biography Research of the German Sociological Association (DGS)
RC 38 Biography and Society, International Sociological Association (ISA)
Department of Sociology, University of Crete
In this workshop we will discuss and reflect on ethical questions in biography research. The adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by the European Union in May 2018 has made us all more aware of the various ethical challenges involved in biographical research. Researchers have to reflect and adequately deal with a number of ethical questions and challenges in the field research process. The different challenges concern the research relationship or research alliance with regard to questions of trust, power hierarchies, and mutual as well as differing interests concerning research questions, aims, and procedures. Furthermore, questions arise regarding “informed consent” as an ongoing process and a dialogue, the moral and legal rights of research participants, the notion of authenticity and truth of the narrated life stories, issues of confidentiality, and protection of sensitive personal data. Finally, there are questions that concern the archiving of biographical data and the social and political consequences for secondary analysis or public accessibility.
In the first part of the workshop we will discuss and reflect on current theoretical issues relating to ethics in qualitative research, with a focus on ethical questions in biography research. In the second part of the workshop we will discuss ethical dilemmas and challenges that arise in the field of biographical research, when conducting biographical-narrative interviews and carrying out reconstructive biographical case analysis. In this part of the workshop participants will have an opportunity to present and discuss ethical challenges that they have encountered in the research process or in the public presentation of their work.
We would like to invite PhD students and other scholars who are working with biographical methods to participate in our workshop and discuss the ethical challenges they have encountered in their research practice.
For organizational reasons the number of participants of the workshop is limited. Please register for the workshop by 30th March 2020 (see contact details for organizers below). There is no fee for registration.
Organizers:
Prof. Dr. Giorgos Tsiolis, University of Crete, E-Mail: tsiolisg@uoc.gr
Dr. Irini Siouti, Institute for Social Research Frankfurt, E-Mail: siouti@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
Emeritus Prof. Dr. Riki Van Boeschoten, University of Thessaly, E-Mail: rvboes@gmail.com
Program
Friday, 29th May 2020
19:00 Welcome and Introduction
Giorgos Tsiolis (University of Crete) & Irini Siouti (Institute for Social Research Frankfurt)
19:15-21:00 Lecture and Discussion
Hella von Unger (Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich): “Ethical reflexivity in qualitative biographical research: Food for thought on informed consent, questions of representation and data archiving.”
Chair: Riki Van Boeschoten (University of Thessaly)
Saturday, 30th May 2020
09:00-12:30 Research Workshop
Ethical Challenges in Biography Research: Examples from ongoing research projects of the participants.
Chair: Giorgos Tsiolis (University of Crete) & Irini Siouti (Institute for Social Research Frankfurt)
12:30-13:00 Closing remarks
Location: Department of Sociology, University of Crete, Rethymnon, Campus Gallou
The workshop is organized in cooperation with the section Biography Research of the German Sociological Association, the RC 38 Biography and Society of the International Sociological Association and the Greek Society of Oral History.
