Negotiating human research ethics: Case notes from anthropologists in the field (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

The human ethics issues surrounding the conduct of health science research have been the subject of increasing debate among biomedical and social science researchers in recent years. Ethics procedures in health‐science research are typically concerned with protecting anonymity and confidentiality, and are tailored to work that primarily uses quantitative methodologies. For qualitative research in the health social sciences, a different set of ethical issues often arises in the research process. This article examines three case studies of qualitative researchers working with Indigenous Australian communities, focusing on the researchers’ experiences with ethics committees and how they approached a range of ethical issues arising in the course of their research. Key issues include: obtaining informed consent for participant observation; the evolving nature of qualitative research; the difficulties in foreseeing changes in approach; and the distinction between the research team and the researched in participatory action research.     

Marine geophysical investigation of the inshore coastal waters of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has been subject to significant maritime influences throughout its 9000-year known human history. In 1997 the University of Ulster in partnership with the Environment and Heritage Service (DOE, NI) embarked on a programme of seabed mapping in an attempt to record the submerged and buried archaeological resource using a suite of geophysical equipment including a side-scan sonar, a Chirp sub-bottom profiler and a proton precession magnetometer. The geophysical research programme has successfully imaged 80 19th- and 20th-century wrecks, and 20 targets of further archaeological potential. These data will aid the production of wreck-prediction indices for the coastline of Northern Ireland based on site formation processes and site stability. This information will make valuable additions to both Sites and Monuments Records and to the shipwreck database currently under consideration at the University of Ulster.