This document provides guidance on ethical considerations for an inquiry proposal and forms. It discusses progress on inquiry questions, working with special interest groups, insider research, ethical considerations, and required forms. It emphasizes choosing an inquiry topic and questions, discussing them with others, and considering ethical values and permissions embedded in the inquiry proposal. The document also outlines required parts of the proposal, including context, rationale, aims, literature review, methods, analysis plan, and schedule. It stresses gaining necessary approvals through ethics release and employer support forms before conducting research with people.

1. Module 2
WBS3630
28/10/15
Ethical
Considerations
for your
Inquiry Proposal
and Forms

2. Summing up Part 4 and leading into Part 5
Where are you now?
•Progress on Inquiry Questions
•Progress on working with Special Interest Groups
(SIGs) – naming the groups and how to join in on their
conversations
•Insider Research and professional practice
•Ethical considerations
•Forms – Employer/Professional Support and Ethics
Release Form

3. Taking stock – writing your proposal
WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS PROCESS?
WHERE ARE THE OTHERS in our BAPP NETWORK?
The proposal incorporates
practitioner research but also
any outcomes you hope to
get out of doing the inquiry
Have you chosen a topic and
narrowed it down to
something more specific?
A special interest group (SIG) is
about finding a few people
within BAPP Arts or in your
workplace who can help you
think about and discuss your
topic and ethics.
If you have not already – ask
someone to join you in
discussion on the blogs, FB,
LinkedIn or face-to–face!
What are your inquiry
questions? What do you
want to find out?

4. You have been looking at sources - these can come from areas of practice and
books about how to research your area of practice - don’t forget to use other
practitioners and their arts research – these will also inform the codes of practice’
you use for your inquiry…

5. Blaxter, Hughes and Tight
The proposal will also include
some practitioner research.
A research analogy – exploratory
practitioner research might relate
more to the 2nd
example?
What do you think
now that you have
thought about several
topics or questions?
What is your inquiry
going to be about?

6. A summary of basic research design (Mason, 2002) You will probably
recognise that we use a variation of this type of language for the
practitioner research aspects of your inquiry proposal – your
consideration of ethical values is embedded into the inquiry
Research problem, question or hypothesis
Background of research (context) - theory, purpose
Methodology – e.g. constructivist… using approaches such as case studies
Methods - tools (i.e. interviews, focus groups)
Sampling – who are the people you will be talking with?
Data handling and analysis – what you learn from talking with others
Pilot study - not just trying tools – this is after ethics permission – to first
interview for example
Ethics important bit to plan for your professional inquiry
Timetable
Resources

7. Outline of the Inquiry Plan – these are the headings you use to write
up your proposal
Title of the Professional Inquiry (a working title of your inquiry)
Context of the Inquiry (what is your professional practice and why is this inquiry
meaningful to you within your professional practice)
Rationale and Inquiry Question(s) (what are you trying to find out more about
and how will this improve your practice)
Aims / Objectives (Aims: what outcomes do you plan to achieve; Objectives:
what are you are actually going to do in the inquiry)
Literature, art work and Ideas (What are the existing ideas, discussions and
thoughts about the area or topic of your inquiry?)
Inquiry tools & Ethical consent/permissions (What data collecting tools will
you use and why? use your experience piloting inquiry tool to explain why you
think these are appropriate. Explanations should relate to the Ethic Release form
and Employer/Professional Support forms you will submit about your inquiry)
Approach to analysis (how will you think through the information you will collect
in the inquiry. That is how will you find a relationship or draw conclusions between
the existing ideas, your experience and data you collect)
Resources (What are the resources needed to carry out the inquiry)
Schedule of activities

8. Inquiry Proposal – 3000 words
An inquiry proposal is based on the activities you will
carry out in order to undertake your professional
inquiry, practitioner research and activities will have
implications and outcomes.
Each person will produce a unique proposal.
It should be written in the academic style.
It involves using ethical practice.

9. Portfolio submission for Module 2 WBS3630 – what you will need to do
for your submission (copied form the handbook)
Part 1: Professional Inquiry Proposal
You are asked to produce a proposal plan for a professional inquiry. This
plan should inform the reader of the following:
the topic of your inquiry and why it is meaningful to you in your
professional practice:
•what the discussions are around this topic in published literature, your
professional field, and the ethical considerations these raise.
•what inquiry tools you are going to use to gather data and why those
tools are appropriate (including paperwork to support ethical conduct).
•what analysis process you will carry out using the data you collected, your
experiences and the published literature and professional discussions.
THIS IS FOR NEXT TIME!!

10. 5a
Taking your place of work /
professional community which
is familiar to you, consider the
ethics which might apply
there.
What are the codes of
practice/regulations which
guide the setting?
Do this without reference to
any documents or discussion.
Rely on your own thoughts
wholly. Blog your thoughts.
5b
Find out what are the codes
of practice / regulations which
steer the ethical framework in
the place of work /
professional community.
These could come from
statutory sources e.g.
legislation or from
professional sources.
Blog how your findings differ
from your assumptions and
thoughts above.
Professional ethics or professional values

11. 5c
Consult the reader on
Professional Ethics especially
the requirements for carrying
out practitioner inquiry. How
does what you have learnt fit in
to the theoretical ethical
framework. How does what you
have discovered fit in with the
ethics of professional inquiry?
Blog what you have learned
about the ideas surrounding
ethics in a professional context
after reviewing Reader 5.
5d
Discuss with your SIG the
ethical dimensions of your
proposed inquiry and give
feedback to your class peers on
their blogs. Prepare drafts of
your Ethics Release Form and
the Employer/Professional
Support Form (a signature
needed on this form) from the
templates provided in order to
submit them in your plan by
the end of the study period.
Send these forms to your
tutor for feedback.
Practitioner research ethics

12. e.g. Case Study 3: The Dance Class
(pp. 19- 20)
Alicia is a student on the BA Professional Practice
course in Middlesex and she is doing her last project –
an inquiry into how warm ups are used during dance
classes. She is doing the inquiry in a number of dance
schools who run classes on a commercial basis.
Already she has carried out her inquiry in two schools
and found examples of good practice… READ THE
REST
Thinking point / discussion – using the
framework consider the ethical issue.
Are these teaching methods ethical?
Is there any way in which they are
ethical? Does moral relativism add
anything to the issues?
Use Reader 5 to help think through your inquiry…
p. 20
Who are your participants?
(role, experience, age?)
How have you chosen these
participants?
Why were the participants
chosen (relate to Inquiry
question)
How will you contact them?
Will you need to talk to
Gatekeepers to do this?
How will you make sure that
your participants can leave
the inquiry if they desire to do
so?
Do the participants have your
contact details.
Are you storing the
participants data safely?

13. What is the
relationship
between personal
ethics and
professional
ethics ?
What about the
relationship of your
work and society?

14. Practitioner research
Ethics
Professional ethics or
professional values
What would you write about
your inquiry?

15. A sample discussion from the workshop about planning the ethical
considerations - permissions from gatekeepers and your employer,
informed consent from those you talk to (confidentiality and anonymity)

16. 2. The ethics release form is about
stating clearly and explaining the
practitioner research you plan to do. It
relates to practitioner research ethics.
Who will you talk to ? Why?
The context? How can you insure that
you will not harm anyone?
Confidentiality? Anonymity?
Use the sample informed consent form
to help plan…
Send in the pdf version
1. Your employer/professional support
form is about getting the ‘gatekeeper’
permission for carrying out the inquiry
in a workplace. It relates to
professional ethics – you may need
more than one if you have several
places you are doing research – if you
are freelance – you can have a
professional colleague sign this.
Fill it out - print it – then get the
signature – then scan in a copy and
send that digital copy in
2 Forms explain and get permission for your inquiry proposal. They need to be
submitted – draft to your adviser before that!

17. Action plan for the next steps?
Discussion… ethical issues Part 5 - like the discussion
on the whiteboard and the tasks
Looking at professional versus practitioner research…
Starting to write up the proposal draft…
Sending drafts of the forms to your adviser….
Part 6 – looking at tools/methods – trying out (but not on
members of the public – that is after ethical approval)
Completing the proposal draft for feedback

18. http://seraclops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/task-5c-part-1_23.html
An example of considering and discussing ethics…