[Air-l] Research question: interviewing online subjects?

[Ellis Godard]

I'm not familiar with this phrase "notifiable offense", but "Notifiable
offenses you have to report" sounds like an identity. What makes it
notifiable and subject to reporting requirements?

An important variable not mentioned previously might be whether or not the
behavior had already occurred. There's a difference between someone saying
they committed a murder (or theft or harassment or whatever) 10 years ago
and someone saying they're going to commit one tomorrow, yes?

-eg

> -----Original Message-----
> From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-
> bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Marj Kibby
> Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 12:54 AM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-l] Research question: interviewing online subjects?
> 
> I'm currently researching downloaded music, and my ethics committee was
> very concerned about my uncovering unlawful activity. While they did
> not
> see that I would be obliged to offer the information to authorities,
> they did say that I would be obliged to report the activity if asked by
> said authorities.
> 
> This seems to be the case for most research here - notifiable offenses
> such as child abuse excepted - you have to warn participants that if
> they tell you about, or let you observe illegal activities then you
> would be obliged to report that to law enforcement if specifically
> questioned. Notifiable offences you have to report.
> 
> Marj
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dr Marjorie Kibby,
> Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture
> Faculty of Education and Arts
> The University of Newcastle,  Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia
> Marj.Kibby at newcastle.edu.au
> +61 2 49216604
> >>> Ellis Godard <egodard at csun.edu> 06/02/07 4:56 PM >>>
> The repeated message that I got in grad school was to consider any
> arguably
> illegal or immoral behavior as observed facts to be described and
> explained,
> not something to be reported beyond the role as researcher. One
> oft-repeated
> example (from someone whose courses I took but with whom I never worked
> closely) concerned having observed a policeman taking money from the
> wallet
> of a vagrant while nominally checking his ID. He did not report the
> theft
> either to the policeman's supervisors or to anyone else, though did
> report
> it as part of his study (and in class discussions of methods and
> ethics).
> 
> That may be wrong, wrong-headed, unpopular, illegal, unapprovable now,
> and/or something else - but is the requirement to report such behavior
> now
> widespread? Universal?
> 
> -eg
> 
> Erika Pearson wrote:
> > I've been reading the general sociology literature on conducting
> > interviews as part of a research project, and some of the literature
> > I have come across makes a point of noting that interviewers should
> > be warning interviewees that any illegal or immoral behaviours
> > uncovered during the course of the research/interview may be reported
> > (for example, Adler and Adler, 2003).
> 
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