• Question: How far are you willing to take your research?

    Asked by anon-215104 to Laura, Kathryn, Ian, Bogdana on 10 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Bogdana Huma

      Bogdana Huma answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      When it comes to research, as a psychologist, I’m committed to ensuring the well being of my participants and to safeguarding them from any harm that they could experience while taking part in my studies.

      At the same time, I’m very keen to challenge artificial boundaries that might hinder my research. For example: my research method – discursive psychology – relies on analysing recordings of everyday conversations between people (for example students in the classroom, patients at the GP surgery, police interviews with witnesses or sales encounters in shops). Some people wrongly believe that most participants feel uncomfortable being recorded in their daily lives and thus act as gatekeepers and don’t allow psychologists to even bring up the issue of recording. For example, some doctors strongly believe their patients will object to being recorded, but when the latter are asked, it turns out the majority of them have no problem with that.

      So when it comes to facing these kinds of barriers, I’m willing to push as far as I can to find out if people are willing to be recorded and thus get access to new settings that have never been studied before.

    • Photo: Ian Cookson

      Ian Cookson answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      There’s an ethical consideration in everything we do. One part of my PhD involves participants cycling in Manchester. This creates an ethical dilemma, which will need to be considered and reflects one of the ethical considerations psychologists have to make, of cost versus benefit. Is this research so important that the cost (risk) is justified? Unfortunately there’s no right or wrong answer.

    • Photo: Kathryn Atherton

      Kathryn Atherton answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      I am willing to devote my life to it.

      If your question was meant (as it has been interpreted by the other psychologists so far) to ask whether I would compromise my ethical principles to answer an interesting question then no, I would not.

      And, indeed, I am rather concerned about society’s changing expectations around privacy and data sharing.

    • Photo: Laura Fisk

      Laura Fisk answered on 11 Jun 2019:

      I like how there are different interpetations to this question – whether it’s asking about ethical principles (how we do research well, and safely, without harming anyone) or something like the effort we’ll go to as individuals to get a good job done. I would echo the others who’ve said they wouldn’t act unethically – that they would make sure they adhere to strong principles of ensuring everyone is treted well and fairly. I would also echo those who’ve said they will put a lot of effort in – I like to work hsrd and I’m lucky I’ve had experences in my life where doing so has paid off. And given that I love psychology (and people), it’s doubly rewarding. So, in short – I’ll take my research as far as I can 🙂

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      One other element I would add is to suggest that there can be unexpected barriers to research at times – things like funding (researchers need to be able to pay bills etc) or the attitudes of other people (like Bogdana said, GPs might object to things being done a certain way which means you have to convince them first before you can get any research done proper). Lots of the time, it’s possible to find solutions to such problems – but it takes an additional amount of work and effort which can be frustrating at times. So I would say, be prepared for that and you’ll have an easier time of it 🙂

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