Real ethics has dirty feet: Data collector perspectives on risk exposure during data collection in conflict-affected Eastern DRC
Conducting research in humanitarian crisis settings poses multiple logistical and ethical challenges. This study explores the perceptions of local study implementers on the ethics of collecting household-based data for a community-based intervention, the "Living Peace Initiative", in conflict-affected Eastern DRC, which inevitably exposed data collectors and trial participants to risk.
A grounded theory qualitative approach was used, with structured interviews conducted with 19 data collectors and 7 local data supervisors, analysed thematically around six themes: motivation, personal safety, trial participant safety, working conditions, emotional challenges, and field navigation.
Motivation included scientific curiosity, professional growth, and financial benefits. Personal safety concerns included exposure to armed groups, road inaccessibility, and harassment, while trial participant safety risks included armed conflict, intimate partner violence, and stigma. Working conditions were affected by harsh weather, poor infrastructure, and network issues, and emotional challenges included exposure to distressing narratives and secondary trauma. Despite these challenges, data collectors and supervisors felt the risks were justified and worth taking.
Even with full implementation of international ethical guidelines, some risks in humanitarian crisis settings cannot be entirely foreseen or avoided. Local data collectors and supervisors recognise these risks and take partial ownership in managing them as active contributors to the research. In this sense, real ethics has dirty feet: data collection cannot be entirely risk-free, but the research may still be worth doing. This decision should not rest solely with external researchers, but should also be informed by those who understand the risks within local context and culture.
This publication relates to R2HC funded study; Evaluating the Psychological and Social Impact by Promoting Positive Masculinity Through the ‘Living Peace’ Program in DRC