[Air-L] Summer 2008 ESRC Research Methods Festival in Oxford: Call for Research Ethics Session

[William Dutton]

Contribution to a Research Ethics Session at the 2008 ESRC Methods  
Festival

The Oxford e-Social Science Project (OeSS), part of the National  
Centre for e-Social Science, has been asked to organize a session on  
research ethics at the 2008 ESRC Research Methods Festival from 30  
June to 3 July 2008. It will be held at St Catherine’s College,  
Oxford, as was the previous festival in 2006, see: www.ccsr.ac.uk/ 
methods/festival/index.html

Our particular session is scheduled from 9.15 – 12.45 (with a break)  
on 2 July. The basic format, which is flexible, would be 3-4 speakers  
with 1-2 discussants, leaving 30-40 minutes for general discussion.

As a coordinator of this session, I am asking if you might be willing  
to propose a paper or be willing to serve as a discussant. The  
programme committee will need a provisional programme of speakers by  
September, so I will need to firm this up as soon as possible over  
August. Titles and abstracts would be due by the end of November  
2007, but fuller versions of the presentations, ideally as a paper,  
would not be needed until May 2008.

At this time, we are keeping the session open to a wide range of  
possible topics. We are interested in the issues raised by the  
application of advances in information and communication  
technologies, such as the Internet, both as a new research tool and  
new space in which research methods are applied. However, we are open  
to innovative treatments of ethical issues within any domain for  
research, including case studies, policy studies, frameworks for  
understanding the ethical issues of social science research, ethical  
issues arising within multi- or inter-disciplinary and international  
research, and research ethics as an object of study from any social  
science disciplinary perspective. From the OeSS project we have  
become convinced that ethical issues are rising in significance  
across a range of subject areas. Is this an inherent feature of new  
ways of conducting research, or a transitional phase?

If you might be interested in participating, please let me know what  
topic(s) you would propose, and I will get back with you. Whether or  
not you are personally interested in contributing, I would welcome  
your advice on emerging issues or studies that should be incorporated  
in this session.

Travel and Expenses: Travel is expected to come out the existing ESRC  
research budgets of participants. If you are not in a position to  
fund your travel in Britain from an existing ESRC research project,  
please let me know as we can apply for a limited amount of local  
travel funds. I don’t believe we are able to support international  
fares.

Many thanks for considering this request. I look forward to hearing  
from you.

Regards,

Bill Dutton
E-Mail: Director at oii.ox.ac.uk

Director, Oxford e-Social Science Project and Co-Director, e-Horizons  
Project

National Centre for e-Social Science: http://www.ncess.ac.uk/
Oxford e-Social Science Project: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/microsites/ 
oess/
e-Horizons Project: http://www.e-horizons.ox.ac.uk/