Longform recordings of everyday life: Ethics for best practices

Margaret Cychosz*, Rachel Romeo, Melanie Soderstrom, Camila Scaff, Hillary Ganek, Alejandrina Cristia, Marisa Casillas, Kaya de Barbaro, Janet Y. Bang, Adriana Weisleder*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent advances in large-scale data storage and processing offer unprecedented opportunities for behavioral scientists to collect and analyze naturalistic data, including from underrepresented groups. Audio data, particularly real-world audio recordings, are of particular interest to behavioral scientists because they provide high-fidelity access to subtle aspects of daily life and social interactions. However, these methodological advances pose novel risks to research participants and communities. In this article, we outline the benefits and challenges associated with collecting, analyzing, and sharing multi-hour audio recording data. Guided by the principles of autonomy, privacy, beneficence, and justice, we propose a set of ethical guidelines for the use of longform audio recordings in behavioral research. This article is also accompanied by an Open Science Framework Ethics Repository that includes informed consent resources such as frequent participant concerns and sample consent forms.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1951-1969
Number of pages19
JournalBehavior Research Methods
Volume52
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2020

Funding

This work was supported by two Oswalt Documenting Endangered Languages grants to MCy; a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Veni Innovational Research Scheme Grant (275-89-033) to MCa; a National Institute of Health training grant to RR (NIMH T32MH112510); two Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grants (435-2015-0628, 869-2016-0003) and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant (501769-2016-RGPDD) to MS; an Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-17-CE28-0007 LangAge, ANR-16-DATA-0004 ACLEW, ANR-14-CE30-0003 MechELex,ANR-17-EURE-0017) and a J. S. McDonnell Foundation Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award to AC; a Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute Postdoctoral Support Award to JB; by University of Zurich to CS; and an NIMH K01 Award (1K01MH111957-01A1) to KdB. The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to report. This work was supported by two Oswalt Documenting Endangered Languages grants to MCy; a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Veni Innovational Research Scheme Grant (275-89-033) to MCa; a National Institute of Health training grant to RR (NIMH T32MH112510); two Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grants (435-2015-0628, 869-2016-0003) and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant (501769-2016-RGPDD) to MS; an Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-17-CE28-0007 LangAge, ANR-16-DATA-0004 ACLEW, ANR-14-CE30-0003 MechELex,ANR-17-EURE-0017) and a J. S. McDonnell Foundation Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award to AC; a Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute Postdoctoral Support Award to JB; by University of Zurich to CS; and an NIMH K01 Award (1K01MH111957-01A1) to KdB. The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to report. This article did not make use of any data sets, and no experiments were performed.

Keywords

  • Confidentiality
  • Data management
  • Ethics
  • Longform recording
  • Naturalistic
  • Privacy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Psychology (miscellaneous)
  • General Psychology

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