I would like to know if there is any consensus or further reading available with regard to the responsibilities of researchers who are covertly observing members of the public.
For example: a group of undergraduate researchers are observing members of the public crossing at pedestrian crossings and the member of the public falls whilst crossing the road.
It could be assumed that the researcher will act like any other responsible member of the public, but is there any guidance on this issue? It may be more important in risky situations such as covert observation of drug taking in a club environment. But is there a common applicable ethical framework to guide this?
Jenna - there are no specific ethical procedures outside 'normal' ethical review. Generally, 'covert' studies have higher risk/safety (for both participants and researchers) and so are likely to go through more rigourous, multiple reviews. To research participants without them knowing is ethically challenging in terms of privacy, respect etc - but there are ways around it. For instance, participants may not know that they are 'participants in the field' at the time - but the nature and results of the study can be released to them afterwards.
Observing people in a crosswalk is a publication where there is no assumption of privacy. You also generally do not know their names.
That is different from quantitative or qualitative data collection from them as individuals, where there is an assumption of privacy.
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