A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

1. What title would you give the post? Remember that
it has to attract attention.
2. What three images would you use? Remember that
the first image in a post will appear as a preview on 
social media sites. 
3. What headings would you use? Three to five should
be enough.
Task 9.7
Ethical issues in your own research
If you have started your own Exploratory Action Research 
project, note down some answers to the following 
questions and then share with a colleague. If you haven’t 
started yet, you could consider them from the perspective 
of one of the teachers-researchers featured in this book:
1. Have you made any video- or audio-recordings
or taken any photos of children for your research?
How will you keep these secure? Do you really need
to use them when sharing your research? 
2. What personal information have you collected from 
participants (e.g. names, jobs, hometown, etc.)?
Do you need to include this in your research findings? 
If so, can you anonymise this data?
3. How will you describe the context for your research? 
Will others be able to identify the school/organisation 
involved? If so, how can you alter this description to 
ensure that it is useful but anonymous?
9.3 Consider participants’ rights
When we report on research we need to respect 
participants’ rights to confidentiality and security at all 
times. This relates to ‘ethical issues’ in research. 
As soon as you begin to share your research findings in 
public, even within your own school, you need to actively 
imagine the consequences this may have for participants
in your research. So here is some important advice:
1. Anonymise data. Change participants’ names unless 
they wish you to use their real name;
2. Don’t post photos or video of children for the public 
without full consent of their parents. Asking the 
children themselves if it’s OK is not sufficient; Their 
parents need to provide consent, ideally in written 
form.
3. Remember that some of the most enthusiastic readers 
of your research may be the participants themselves. 
They may enjoy seeing themselves in your research, 
but because of how much they know about each other, 
they may also be able to spot classmates or 
colleagues, so, if you quote them, make sure that other 
research participants won’t be able to identify them 
from what they say.

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