ACADEMIC AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES IN PARTICIPATORY MODELS OF COMMUNITY RESEARCH

The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore academic and ethical challenges with Participatory Community Research (PCR) in the context where many universities and researchers are moving to embrace new e-Research infrastructure. A case study of a project focussing on developing electronic capacity in a deprived community in Africa is used to problematize issues. E-Research also brings its own challenges for PCR, such as: a need to clearly understand the dynamics of community-based research and ethics and ethical frameworks that are responsive to this; the development of new legal ownership and access rights; the need for appropriately sensitive institutional commitment to the long-term maintenance of repositories to support continued data storage and curation; and the formation of adaptive, inter-organizational research teams which are comfortable with community and electronic interactions.