For some courses at Open Polytechnic you will need to do original research. This page includes information and resources about research ethics.
Sometimes you may need to use human participants in your research. The ethics around doing this need to be carefully considered.
Your course will give you some information about research ethics, but this page includes additional resources and information to help you understand what you need to do.
We encourage you to watch the ethics videos below (or read their transcripts) before starting any research project.
Ethics and integrity in research
This video will give you information about when you need to consider ethics, why, and the principles that underpin ethics.
Transcript - Video 1 - Ethics and integrity in research (PDF)
Scenario 1 – Alex conducts research in the workplace
This video shows a scenario with ethical considerations when doing research in a work place.
Transcript - Video 2 - Alex conducts research in the workplace (PDF)
Scenario 2 – Aicha and cultural contexts
This video shows a scenario where ethical issues and risks are considered.
Transcript - Video 3 - Aicha and cultural contexts (PDF)
Applying ethics principles
This video gives information about how to apply ethics principals, including creating information sheets for participants and getting consent.
Transcript - Video 4 - Applying ethics principles (PDF)
Research ethics checklist
You will have guidance on how to design and/or carry out research from your course, but the checklist linked to below may also be helpful.
Research ethics checklist (PDF)
If you read through and answer each of the questions for your project but find you are unsure about the answers, you can:
- contact your course leader or academic/research supervisor
- re-read the relevant pages in your course
- watch the ethics videos on this page
- consult the ethics section of a research methods textbook
consult any professional or industry codes of ethics or codes of conduct. For example:
- New Zealand Association for Research in Education – Ethical Guidelines (PDF, opens new tab)
- NEAC – National Ethical Standards
- Community Research – Code of Practice
- The Royal Society Te Apārangi – Ethics and Integrity resources.
Other resources
Open Polytechnic Library
The Open Polytechnic Library has a lot of resources on research, research methods, data collection and analysis, and so on. Try these searches:
- Try searching for your discipline area. For example, environment or information studies
- Try searching for your approach. For example, quantitative + research
- Search for the course numbers LIS705, 73213, 71234, or 72397
Research using a kaupapa Māori approach
If you want to conduct research using a kaupapa Māori approach, these resources may be helpful:
- Kaupapa Māori methodology – Tikanga Rangahau Webinar Series (YouTube) – The first hour is very useful, and at around 23 minutes it talks about power relations in research.
- Kaupapa Māori Research: An indigenous approach to creating knowledge (PDF)
Kaupapa Māori approach from the Open Polytechnic Library:
- Decolonising Methodologies: Research and indigenous people – Linda Tuhiwai Smith has written extensively on indigenous research. Her chapter on kaupapa Māori research explores the ways in which Māori can set their ‘priorities, policies and practices of research for, by and with Māori’ (p. 185).
- Decolonising Māori narratives : pūrakau as a method
- Researching in a Māori context: The moral, ethical, and cultural obligations – In Challenging the notion of "other": Reframing Research in the Aotearoa New Zealand Context (pp.45-61)
You could also look at:
- Smith, B. (2018). Research with Māori: Learning from Kaupapa Māori research. Chapter 3 in M. Tolich & C. Davidson (Eds.), Social science research in New Zealand: An introduction (pp. 46–57). Auckland University Press.
Pasifika research
- Pacific Research Protocols – University of Otago (PDF)
- Teu Le Va: Relationships across research and policy in Pasifika education (PDF) – A Pasifika paradigm can be understood from this Education Counts resource
- Talanoa research methodology: A developing position on Pacific research (PDF) – Waikato Journal of Education, 12, 21–34.
- Pacific research methodologies and relational ethics – In Oxford research encyclopedia of education.
Got a question?
If you want to talk with someone about research ethics, contact The Library and Learning Centre | Te Whare Pukapuka Wāhanga Whakapakari Ako.