Ethics

Ethical Approval: Why is it Needed?

Researchers have responsibilities to ensure that their research adheres to ethical standards, a process known as research ethics. The University of Glasgow requires that all research involving human participants, human data, or non-public datasets is subject to ethical review. This may affect work that students do for their MA thesis or for other assessments, or indeed for work that is not assessed. It affects any work where students undertake interviews, questionnaires, survey work, participant observation, or any other form of original research involving people. In these cases, staff are responsible for ensuring that ethical approval has been obtained.

For more information about why research ethics are important for social sciences, see Sheppard (2020, chapter 2) and Bos (2020) – ebook login with University of Glasgow.

If you plan to undertake any form of research involving human participants or human data for your MA thesis you must apply for ethical approval through the School Ethics Forum. You must get approval before starting work and the process can take several weeks, so this means applying well in advance. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have read the ethics guidelines and approval procedures, discussed the implications of your research plans with your supervisors, and submitted your application for ethical approval in good time. As a minimum, the ethics application should be submitted at least one month ahead of any planned research. However, it is highly recommended to submit it earlier to avoid delays to your research process in the case that the ethics form needs to be revised and resubmitted.

How to Apply for Ethical Approval

It is recommended that you discuss any research ethics issues with your supervisors early on, ideally during the first and second supervision meetings.

It is the student’s responsibility to find out if there are any additional ethical approval procedures that need to be complied with at the partner university. In any case, students MUST fulfil the University of Glasgow requirements.

If you have a co-supervisor from the University of Glasgow, they will help you submit the forms to the University of Glasgow. If you do not have a Glasgow co-supervisor, contact Dr. Anna Dekalchuk.

Download and complete the CSS Ethics Application Form from the University of Glasgow’s College Research Ethics page and ensure that you have included the required supporting documentation (for example: Plain Language Statement, Consent Form, Interview schedule etc.)

Send the form to your Glasgow supervisor/Anna Dekalchuk and ask for their comments. Remember that your Glasgow supervisor/Anna Dekalchuk MUST complete the ‘Comments from Supervisor’ section at Box 1.7 and fill in their name (electronic signature is fine) at Box 6.

Your Glasgow supervisor/Anna Dekalchuk submits the application by email on your behalf to: socpol-pgt-ethics@glasgow.ac.uk

If you need help or are not sure what to do, please ask your Glasgow supervisor/Anna Dekalchuk.