I recently applied for a renewal of my ethics review approval. At my school an ethics approval is required whenever one works with human beings, particularly if the work may have negative consequences. Although the stage where I actively interview women is completed, the ethics review committee considers the study ongoing until I've published the report (in my case, my dissertation). It seems odd to have to get an ethics approval for what is essentially now me sitting at my computer or going to the library.
On the other hand, the idea that contact, responsibility, or study ends completely at some point seems to be based on the idea that you're an outsider interviewing insiders - people you will likely never see again after the study. When you're studying your own community, the line seems less clear. I'll be seeing these women all the time; many of them are my friends.
I find it interesting that we're expected to apply for the review without having training in what makes for ethical research. Part of this is that many people would view my project as a sociology project. I assume that were I a sociology student ethical research methods would have been covered during an undergraduate degree. None of this is done in theology, which is geared towards preparing people either for ministry or (as in my case) the academic study of religion. Since I'm not in the ministry-stream I seem to encounter the assumption that I'll never be working with people. Of course maybe this isn't covered in other streams. My stream is aimed toward teaching and we haven't had any courses in how to teach. As a result I've been researching independently to fill these gaps. Thankfully, one of the things doctoral studies does teach you is how to research and learn.
