Ethics, reflexivity and access in educational research: issues in intergenerational investigation

Educational researchers, like other academic investigators, are expected to carry out research in an ethical manner. This paper draws on the author’s experience of conducting a research study related to social justice, which examines intergenerational dynamics and education amongst British Asian families. It discusses the importance of ethical considerations, and the need for reflexivity, throughout the research project. It highlights the problems of access and the ways in which they are overcome. Significantly the paper notes how researchers, who are ostensibly knowledgeable about the ways of life of the research participants, can still go into the research field with preconceived notions about these groups or individuals. Further, it shows how these researchers can be proved
wrong, and can hone their research skills by learning from these experiences.