Mom, Dad, and the Research Object: The Ethics of Conducting Research Based on Your Own Children's Everyday Life

Doing research into the everyday lives of one’s own children allows for a unique in-depth insight into the complexities of educational life. This article discusses the ethical dilemmas of this kind of research including issues of power, consent, emotional involvement, objectivity and researcher positioning, arguing that research is always a risk-filled endeavor requiring vigilant ethical astuteness and moment to moment judgements, which are particularly radicalized when doing research with intimate others such as one’s children.