Paper long abstract:

Good research requires strict adherence with ethics including obtaining consent, protecting data and keeping high level of confidentiality. This paper is based on my research experiences in Africa where I have been conducting research activities for over 15 years. Although ethical clearance procedures are an important aspect of doing research, many remain disconnected with the reality in the field. As a researcher, I have nearly always found myself torn between following strict ethical rules and responding to local people’s desires and demands. There are many times when I have to listen to voices of potential research subjects who feel strongly that they have been excluded from participating in my research. There are times when men and women demand that their names be included in the list of respondents and so on.

This presentation will be based on my practical experiences of the ethics of doing research in local villages in Africa using ethical procedures developed in the UK universities. The presentation covers selected case studies from Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, based on selected stories taken from personal research diaries covering many years. During the presentation, I will highlight the challenges that I have faced and how I have negotiated my way through to find a win-win situation although this is not always the case. As I present this, I will share key lessons learned – what worked, what did not work- and hope that my insights might be useful to other researchers.