Evaluating ICT for Education in Africa - Royal Holloway, University of ...

In the light of the complex challenges surrounding effective online research ithas been suggested that the most appropriate means by which to ensureethical practice is through developing a specific ethical code or principlesunique to online ethics (Hine 2005). However, once again the notion of a„code‟ infers macro-level principles which remain rigid regardless of new oremerging contexts. The solution cannot be to construct an alternative ethicalstructure for appropriate action in this new realm of research. It is thecontext specific guidelines regarding how best to apply ethical principles thatchange rather than the principles themselves (Thurlow et al. 2004).Effective research in an online environment therefore requires rigorousengagement with the continuum of good ethical practice, rather thanseparating and segregating them into specific situations in such a way as topromote ever-narrower definitions of applicability. The ethics remain thesame but the appropriate application of the ethics changes. This is not todeny the presence of new challenges regarding the appropriate application ofethics, and as Madge (2007 p.656) asserts „it might not be too extreme tosuggest that the particular cultural context of the internet might demandsome new thinking about what constitutes ethical inquiry.‟ This is a validobservation but the emphasis must remain on recognising the linkages andsimilarities between ethics in both an online and offline context (Thomas2004, Ess 2002a).The two online methods used in my research were conducting 15 emailinterviews and an online survey with 147 respondents. Selecting thesemethods made the research less ethically complex than with other onlinescenarios such as chat-rooms and blog-based research (Umbach 2004).However, the additional complicating factor with the online survey was that itwas conducted with participants in developing countries. Within Africa thereare limited spheres in which it would presently be both appropriate andplausible to conduct online research due to the socially segregated exposureto such environments and the risk of accessing a privileged and digitallyliterate minority. As Carini et al. (2003) note, if you include technologyrelated questions in an online test you will get a higher positive response rate109