Reflections on the procedural and practical ethics in researching professional social work writing

Lillis, Theresa; Twiner, Alison; Balkow, Michael; Lucas, Gillian; Smith, Miriam and Leedham, Maria (2023). Reflections on the procedural and practical ethics in researching professional social work writing. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice (Early Access).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.20014

Abstract

This paper explores the procedural ethics and ethics in practice involved in a multi-agency research project exploring professional social work writing. Drawing on institutional documentation and researchers’ field notes over two years, the requirements and processes involved in complying with academia-facing and agency-facing regulatory frameworks are summarised and challenges highlighted. The main part of the paper centres on ethics in practice, foregrounding the importance of ongoing dialogue between researchers and participant-stakeholders. Reflective accounts from three participant-stakeholders illustrate the interrelationship between what are often presumed to be distinct moments of a research chronology – access, representation and dissemination – in the process of knowledge making. The paper concludes by highlighting the differences between academia- and agency-facing procedural ethics, and arguing for greater institutional recognition of ethics in practice, in particular the importance of ongoing dialogue between researchers and participant-stakeholders at all stages of the research process.

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