What, in your estimation, are some of the most difficult ethical challenges a researcher faces in producing an oral history?

  1. First and most obvious ethical challenges are consent and confidentiality. A researcher has an obligation to inform interviewee about the goals and purpose of the research, as well as the interested parties. Participation should be voluntary, and every detail about the usage of the material collected should be clearly shared, including privacy protocols.
  2. Power Dynamics and Representation: Researchers must be aware of the power dynamics that exist between the interviewer and interviewee, particularly when working with marginalized or vulnerable communities. The interviewer holds a position of authority, asking questions and guiding the conversation. This power imbalance can influence the dynamics of the interview and impact the narratives shared by the interviewee. The negative possible aspects should be neutralized, and general impacts that might be delineating the narrative, taken into consideration.
  3. Deep listening: the notion is discussed in Sheftel and Zembrzycki’s “Only Human: A Reflection on the Ethical and Methodological Challenges of Working with Difficult Stories.” It mentions looking behind what is told, and actually perceiving the human’s position and reasons for probable interpretations. This method gives meaningful insights, though if the discoveries touch on probably painful parts that the respondent might not want to share publicly, consent and confidentiality should be taken into account.
  4. Interpretation and Contextualization: Oral histories are subjective and context-dependent. Researchers must consider how their own biases and interpretations can shape the narrative and ensure that multiple perspectives are represented. Providing appropriate contextualization is important to avoid misrepresentation or misunderstanding of the interviewee’s experiences.
  5. Long-term Access and Preservation: Researchers have a responsibility to ensure the long-term preservation and accessibility of the interviews they conduct. Establishing appropriate archival practices and addressing issues of intellectual property rights are crucial to guaranteeing the ongoing availability of the oral history materials.

How can following ethical guidelines or policies help in such situations?  How might such guidelines and policies come up short?

Implementing ethical guidelines help preserve respondents’ safety, and build trust through making them feel safe and secure through the process. Standardized frameworks make work for researchers easier to navigate the process. They also help with power imbalances, and set a collaborative background as a base to a research.

The shortcomings of the same methods might be (a) contextual, which demand narrowing down the broad guidelines based on the field and context relevance; (b) limiting the importance of research, _ for example, closing the respondent’s personal details might undermine the value of overall work. (c) subjectivity and interpretation: some ethical guidelines might be leaving a space for researcher’s individual interpretation. In such cases, the researcher must act with overall principles of diminishing possible harm for the respondent, and efforts to neutralize power dynamics.