Difficult but important questions about the ethics of qualitative research

Excerpt

We are excited to write this commentary and commend Reid and colleagues for their reflexions on their personal challenges with the ethics of qualitative research. Recently, Baker et al. [1] educated our health professions education community about the difference between procedural and practical ethics. Procedural ethics refers to the formal process of ethical board review, and practical ethics refers to the ethical decision-making that arises during research practice [1, p. 607]. These authors note the importance of authentically representing study participants, minimizing power differentials, and contributing meaningfully to knowledge. Baker et al. argue for reflexivity, which can help researchers ‘appreciate the importance of procedural ethics and respond thoughtfully to practical ethics’ (p. 607). …