This case study examines some of the ethical issues involved in ‘insider’ research. It highlights the importance of thinking through and anticipating potential conflicts of interest when teacher-researchers, and other researchers with dual roles such as lecturers and managers, conduct insider research.

Sarah is a primary school teacher who is also completing a part-time master’s degree in educational assessment. As part of her studies, Sarah is exploring teachers’ use of formative assessment and feedback to improve pupil outcomes, and she incorporates lesson observation as a research method. While observing one of the teachers participating in the study, Sarah has concerns about the children’s behaviour in the classroom, the manner in which the teacher attempts to manage this and the stress he appears to be under. How can Sarah draw firm lines between her researcher role and her everyday capacity as a colleague of this teacher?

Drawing on BERA’s Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, this case study discusses key ethical issues, including:

• researchers’ duty of care towards participants and responsibilities to identify and minimise any potential harm arising from their participation in research
• consent, transparency and the right to withdraw
• confidentiality and the circumstances in which this may need to be broken
• responsibilities for researchers’ wellbeing and development.

About this series

BERA’s Research Ethics Case Studies, edited by Sin Wang Chong and Alison Fox, complement BERA’s Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, fifth edition (2024) by giving concrete examples of how those guidelines can be applied during the research process. 

Annotations in the margins of each case study document indicate where, among the numbered paragraphs of BERA’s Ethical Guidelines, readers can find full advice on the issues raised. The annotations include hyperlinks to the relevant passages of the guidelines.

For a full account of ethical best practice as recommended by BERA, researchers should refer to our Ethical Guidelines, which these case studies are intended to illustrate without themselves offering guidance or recommendations.