Table Of ContentResearch Ethics in Exercise,
Health and Sports Sciences
Does good research demand good ethics?
Does an emphasis on productivity undermine the moral integrity of
research?
Research Ethics in Exercise, Health and Sports Sciences puts ethics at the centre
of research in these rapidly expanding fields of knowledge. Placing the issues
in historical context, and using informative case studies, the authors examine
how moral theory can guide research design, education, and governance. As
well as theoretical analysis, key practical concerns are critically discussed,
including:
• informed consent;
• anonymity, confidentiality and privacy;
• plagiarism, misappropriation of authorship, research fraud and
‘whistleblowing’;
• ethics in qualitative research;
• vulnerable populations; and
• trans-cultural research.
Providing an accessible and robust theoretical framework for ethical practice,
this book challenges students, researchers and supervisors to adopt a more
informed and proactive approach to ethics in exercise, health and sport
research.
Mike McNamee is Reader in the Centre for Philosophy, Humanities and
Law in Health Care at the University of Wales, Swansea.
Steve Olivier is Professor of Sport and Exercise Science and Head of the
School of Social and Health Sciences at the University of Abertay, Dundee.
Paul Wainwright is Professor of Nursing in the Faculty of Health and Social
Care Sciences at Kingston University and St George’s, University of
London.
Ethics and Sport
Series Editors
Mike McNamee, Swansea University
Jim Parry, University of Leeds
The Ethics and Sport series aims to encourage critical reflection on the practice of
sport, and to stimulate professional evaluation and development. Each volume
explores new work relating to philosophical ethics and the social and cultural study
of ethical issues. Each is different in scope, appeal, focus and treatment but a balance
is sought between local and international focus, perennial and contemporary issues,
level of audience, teaching and research application, and variety of practical
concerns.
Also available in this series:
Ethics and Sport Genetically Modified Athletes
Edited by Mike McNamee and Jim Parry Biomedical ethics, gene doping and sport
Andy Miah
Values in Sport
Elitism, nationalism, gender equality and Human Rights in Youth Sport
the scientific manufacture of winners A critical review of children’s rights in
Edited by Torbjörn Tännsjö and Claudio competitive sports
Tamburrini Paulo David
Spoilsports Genetic Technology and Sport
Understanding and preventing sexual Ethical Questions
exploitation in sport Edited by Claudio Tamburrini and Torbjörn
Celia Brackenridge Tännsjö
Fair Play in Sport Pain and Injury in Sport
A Moral Norm System Ethical Questions
Sigmund Loland Edited by Sigmund Loland, Berit Skirstad
and Ivan Waddington
Sport, Rules and Values
Philosophical investigations into the
Ethics, Money and Sport
nature of sport
This Sporting Mammon
Graham McFee
Adrian Walsh and Richard Giulianotti
Sport, Professionalism and Pain
Ethnographies of injury and risk
David Howe
Research Ethics in Exercise,
Health and Sports Sciences
Mike McNamee, Steve Olivier and
Paul Wainwright
First published 2007
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2007 Mike McNamee, Steve Olivier and Paul Wainwright
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McNamee, M. J. (Mike J.)
Research ethics in exercise, health and sports sciences / Mike McNamee,
Steve Olivier and Paul Wainwright.
p. cm. – (Ethics and sports)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Physical education and training–Research–Moral and ethical
aspects. 2. Sport sciences–Research–Moral and ethical aspects. 3.
Health education–Research–Moral and ethical aspects. I. Olivier, Steve,
1960– II. Wainwright, Paul. III. McNamee, Mike. IV Title. V. Series.
GV341.M436 2006
174′.961371–dc22
2006015179
ISBN13: 978–0–415–29881–0 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–29882–7 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–96685–3 (ebk)
ISBN10: 0–415–29881–4 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–29882–2 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–96685–6 (ebk)
For those who gave us the gift of curiosity, and for those who
sustain it
Contents
Series editors’ preface ix
Preface and acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
1 Why does research need to be regulated? A selective
history of research ethics abuses 7
2 What’s in a name? Ethics, ethical theories and
research ethics 29
3 Research governance: the ethics review and approval
processes 49
4 Respectful research: why ‘tick-box consent’ is not good
enough 67
5 Whose datum is it anyway? Anonymity, confidentiality
and privacy 91
6 Scientific misconduct: authorship, plagiarism and
fraud, and blowing the whistle on it 108
7 Ethics in qualitative research 130
8 Research ethics and vulnerable populations 149
9 Does one size fit all? Ethics in transcultural research 165
10 Research and society: is bad science ipso facto bad ethics? 181
viii Contents
Notes 196
References 202
Index 216
Series editors’ preface
The Ethics and Sport series aims to support and contribute to the develop-
ment of the study of ethical issues in sport, and indeed to the establishing of
Sports Ethics as a legitimate discipline in its own right. It does this by identi-
fying issues of practical concern and exploring them systematically in
extended discussion.
Given the logical basis of ethics at the heart of sport as a practical activity,
every important and topical issue in sport necessarily has an ethical dimen-
sion– and often the ethical dimension is of overwhelming significance. The
series addresses a variety of both perennial and contemporary issues in this
rapidly expanding field, aiming to engage the community of teachers,
researchers and professionals, as well as the general reader.
Philosophical ethics may be seen both as a theoretical academic discipline
and as an ordinary everyday activity contributing to conversation, journal-
ism, and practical decision-making. The series aims to bridge that gap. Aca-
demic disciplines will be brought to bear on the practical issues of the day,
illuminating them and exploring strategies for problem-solving. A philo-
sophical interest in ethical issues may also be complemented and broadened
by research within related disciplines, such as sociology and psychology.
The series aims to encourage critical reflection on the practice of sport,
and to stimulate professional evaluation and development. Each volume will
explore new work relating to philosophical ethics and the social and cultural
study of ethical issues. Each will be different in scope, appeal, focus and
treatment, but a balance will be sought within the series between local and
international focus, perennial and contemporary issues, level of audience,
teaching and research application, and variety of practical concern. Each
volume is complete in itself, but also complements others in the series.
This volume is a prime example of what the series aims to achieve. The
drivers for increased attention to research ethics have been to some extent
externally imposed, with the setting up of Research Ethics Committees to
monitor proposals for research activity. This has sometimes resulted in a
‘box-ticking’ approach to the ethical dimensions of research, produced by an
inadequate understanding of its nature, rationale and justification, and the
generation of an attitude of resigned compliance with what are perceived as
