Procedural and participatory ethics: community-based evaluation in practice
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X231166206 |
| Author | Tony O’Connor |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Practice Articles |
Practice Article
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2023, Vol. 23(2) 91–100
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/1035719X231166206
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
Procedural and participatory
ethics: community-based
evaluation in practice
Tony O’Connor
Point and Associates, New Zealand
Abstract
This article argues that it can be beneficial for institution-based, procedural ethics
review of evaluation design in the planning stage to be followed by community-based
oversight of ethical issues in the field. Deferring to an institutional review board (IRB)
for ethical assessment when a project is underway can be impractical for community-
based projects that are designed to be responsive to local needs and interests, es-
pecially when community leaders expect to have a meaningful say in determining what
is the right thing to do. This article discusses a 2-year project in New Zealand, where
community leaders and the project funder formed a project steering group to, among
other things, provide ethical oversight. Ethical issues that arose during the project and
the steering group’s role in considering the most suitable response are discussed and
linked to literature about participatory ethics.
Keywords
Participatory, ethics, methods, community involvement, stakeholder involvement
Corresponding author:
Tony O’Connor, Point and Associates, 8 Jesmond Terrace, Mount Albert, Auckland 1025, New Zealand.
Email: tony@point.co.nz
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