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Reflexivity as the ethos of qualitative research

This paper seeks to promote reflection on ethics in anthropological and qualitative research and emphasize the comprehensive, relational and reflective character of this process, as well as the advantages and problems that arise from different logic and often conflicting interests between researchers and their interlocutors. The text is divided into four parts and addresses the ethical: (a) significance of these approaches; (b) behavior of the researcher in the field; (c) analysis of the empirical material; and (d) considerations in the preparation of results of anthropological and qualitative studies, using some classic examples from the international literature. The paper concludes by reflecting on the distinction between the requirements of the Ethics Committee and the Ethics of research itself. It must be clear that the comprehensive sense of ethics which includes the responsibility of the researcher cannot be condensed in the instruments required for the judgment of projects because the following elements are involved in the development of research, namely the social significance of the work, the institutional relations with fund providers, how to treat staff and research students in academic work and commitments with the scientific community.

Qualitative research; Anthropological research; Reflexivity; Ethics; Ethics in research involving human beings


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