Provider: Ingenta Connect Database: Ingenta Connect Content: application/x-research-info-systems TY - ABST AU - Charlesworth, Andrew TI - DATA PROTECTION, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND ETHICAL REVIEW COMMITTEES JO - Information, Communication and Society PY - 2012-02-01T00:00:00/// VL - 15 IS - 1 SP - 85 EP - 103 KW - social science KW - ethics committees KW - data privacy KW - freedom of information KW - ICTs KW - empirical research N2 - Effective interpretation of, and compliance with, data protection and freedom of information law across the range of administrative and educational activities undertaken in a UK higher educational institution are tasks which, over a decade after the passage of the legislation, remain fertile ground for disagreement, misunderstanding and poorly conceived institutional policymaking. For social science researchers, the issue is further complicated by the need to simultaneously interpret and implement research ethics guidelines promulgated by diverse external bodies: the Research Councils, subject-specific research associations and other cross-disciplinary special interest groups. The cascade of new information communication technologies (ICTs) available to the social science researcher completes a triangle of policy variables and uncertainties for both researchers and institutional research scrutiny bodies. The aim of this article is threefold: first, to examine some of the issues raised by the application of data protection and freedom of information law to research in the social sciences, with a particular eye to the impact of ICTs; second, to discuss how the interplay between legal rules, ethical guidelines, and institutional regulation is developing; and finally, to suggest some potential ways forward. UR - https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/rics/2012/00000015/00000001/art00006 M3 - doi:10.1080/1369118X.2011.637572 UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2011.637572 ER -