Ethics are moral principles or beliefs about the ways humans must behave in order to do no harm in the world.

Any group or individual that is doing research must follow ethical guidelines. Ethical guidelines are rules that are written down to ensure that, as researchers, we treat the people we interview with respect. These guidelines are meant to protect the interviewees and make sure that they are not taken advantage of. The knowledge that they share with us is their knowledge and they have final control over how that knowledge is used.

When you begin an oral history project you must give the interviewees a copy of your ethical guidelines and explain the guidelines to them verbally. All the people who work with you should be aware of their rights in this project. It is up to your group, the researchers, to be certain that each interviewee understands his or her rights.

Your group could spend some time developing your own ethical guidelines at the beginning of your project.

Here are Some Principles to Follow¹

• We must get signed consent from the people who will be involved in our projects.
• We must tell the interviewees what we have planned as goals and outcomes for the project. We must tell them what will happen to the information they give us.
• We will consult with individuals or groups who agree to work with us when we are setting up the project.
• We must protect the rights of the people we work with. The interviewees own their knowledge – control over their knowledge is their ‘intellectual property right’.
• We must be open and honest with the people who work with us about all the parts of our work.
• The people who work with us as interviewees have control over the research process. They have the right to control the information they give us. They can withdraw information or say that it can only be used in a certain way. It is our responsibility as researchers to make sure the interviewees know that they have control.
• We must be open and honest with the interviewees about the level of our skills and experience.
• We will consult with the interviewees as the project goes along to see if any changes are necessary.
• We will not use the interviewees or their information for our own benefit or personal gain. If we get money from a project, the interviewees will get a share.
• Interviewees have the right to remain anonymous or remove their names from the project if they choose.
• The interviewees’ personal and cultural values must be respected throughout the project.
• All people involved in the project will get a copy of these ethical guidelines.
• We, as researchers, must answer to or be accountable to our interviewees before any other group or individual.
• We will give the interviewees a draft copy of anything we create with their information. We will get their approval before we make the final version.
• We will credit the interviewees in any public work we create – unless they choose to remain anonymous.

1. Adapted from Protocols and Principles for Conducting Research in an indigenous Context, by University of Victoria Faculty of Human and Social Development, February 2001