Accountability

Accountability refers to the obligations the researcher has to the various stakeholders in the research process such as the research participants, the funding body, and the researcher's employing organization. Accountability is an important concept in qualitative research because when it is addressed and made explicit, it can suggest standards of research practice against which the researcher can be judged to determine whether he or she has acted in an appropriate and ethical fashion.

Examples of practices that attempt to address accountability to these different stakeholders include the following:

• To research participants: an explanation about how they have been identified and why they have been approached about participating in the research project (usually explained within the participant information sheet); clarification about the nature and extent of participation so that potential participants can provide informed consent (information detailing involvement should be included in the participant information sheet, and potential participants should have an opportunity to ask questions directly of the researcher); assurance that withdrawal from a research study will not adversely affect participants (by including a statement to this effect in the participant information sheet and verbally reinforcing this with participants)
• To funding bodies: completion of the research project within the timeframe identified and within budget (the use of project management tools such as computer software and Gantt charts may help to prevent time slippage, and careful planning at the grant submission stage with a regular review of expenditures can help to prevent overspending)
• To employing organizations: conduct of research in a manner consistent with governance arrangements (this necessitates familiarity with governance policies and possible liaison with officers of the organizations [Page 4]responsible for formalizing and monitoring such arrangements); appropriate costing of overhead such as use of space and resources (discussion with financial officers from the employing organizations and often the inclusion of their signatures as part of a grant application)

The nature of accountability—to whom a researcher is accountable—and the research practices that address this responsibility are matters of some debate. Qualitative researchers, for example, sometimes assume some obligation for involving their participants in the interpretive process. This can often take the form of “member checking,” where the written transcripts of interviews are returned to participants prior to further analysis so that they may check the accuracy of the transcriptions. However, in some instances this is the extent of participant involvement. Within other approaches, such as participatory action research, research participants and researchers may be equally responsible for all aspects of the project, from the original framing of the research question to interpretation of the data.