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Tools and guides

Doing research ethically: Principles and practices for international development practitioners and evaluators

A guide and toolkit for doing research and evaluation in an ethical way

2021 Available in English

Cover image: A research interview taking place in the village of Nyamdehun Bessima, Pujahun district, Sierra Leone.

This guide and toolkit help NGO staff, partners and consultants to conduct research and evaluation in an ethical way. Ethics relate to the moral integrity with which we conduct our evidence-generating activities, and the extent to which we minimise the risk of harm and maximise the benefits for all of the people and groups involved.

The guide explores ethical principles that ought to be considered at each stage of a research or evaluation project cycle.

The accompanying tools put these principles into practice. They can be accessed in Chapter 5 of the guide, or as individual documents for you to download and edit.

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