In September, Nick Clakre led a session on ‘Longitudinal Studies’ as part of a workshop focused on Mass Observation and the ethics of re-using archival material. Nick’s talk raised a number of ethical questions about longitudinal research such as: how researchers can do justice to the complexity of individual lives while still producing clear answers to research questions; balance participants’ own voices with researchers’ interpretation and description; and decide whether to seek greater completeness and respondent validation or make more cautious claims from necessarily partial evidence. The talk also highlighted ethical dilemmas around researchers’ duty of care towards potentially vulnerable correspondents, the use of material where consent may not have been fully informed, and the tension between providing the biographical detail that makes longitudinal research valuable and protecting participants’ anonymity and confidentiality.

Many thanks to Tracey Loughran, Jessica Scantlebury and Kirsty Pattrick for organising such an thought provoking event.