Abstract
This article explores ethical issues of co-mingled data, demarcating the field and informed consent in a study researching
the consequences of Christian fundamentalist ideology on the lives of “Bible Belt gays”. When what constitutes informed consent
is ambiguous, how does the qualitative researcher justify her decision either to include or exclude meaningful data? To illustrate these ethical issues, I analyze four instances of co-mingled data, two featuring Christian
fundamentalists and two Bible Belt gays, in which I gain theoretical insights under conditions of blurry consent, and weigh
potential harm to subjects against the liberatory goals of the project.
the consequences of Christian fundamentalist ideology on the lives of “Bible Belt gays”. When what constitutes informed consent
is ambiguous, how does the qualitative researcher justify her decision either to include or exclude meaningful data? To illustrate these ethical issues, I analyze four instances of co-mingled data, two featuring Christian
fundamentalists and two Bible Belt gays, in which I gain theoretical insights under conditions of blurry consent, and weigh
potential harm to subjects against the liberatory goals of the project.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-15
- DOI 10.1007/s11133-011-9197-x
- Authors
- Bernadette Barton, Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminology, Morehead State University, 341 Rader Hall, Morehead, KY 40351, USA
- Journal Qualitative Sociology
- Online ISSN 1573-7837
- Print ISSN 0162-0436