How to Research Sensitive Topics
Our job, as data scientists, means that most of the time we are looking at KPIs and trends to help companies grow and optimize their processes.
But what about the times when we have the chance to tackle social inequalities, design better products, and ultimately understand the full human experience of audiences through just the same: DATA?
Having access to data allows us to do just that. But what does researching sensitive topics with data mean? "Sensitive" topics are dependent on both context and cultural norms and values. Through this blog, we want to share our best practices in researching sensitive topics by making our participants comfortable, complying with regulators, and being ethical.
Make sure you have properly defined sensitive topics
Even though there are various definitions and categorizations of sensitive topics, making the final decision requires some judgement from the analysts. When defining your data, you need to consider how revealing the data would affect the participant and most importantly, would participants be willing to volunteer this data.
2. Check with regulators
Once you have a proper understanding of the topic, you need to make sure you comply with governing laws and regulations. Make sure to conduct your research using the already established framework from the regulator.
While the US does not have specific data protection laws, it’s only a matter of time before this changes. Data regulation is becoming more protective, so early compliance should be considered essential for your business.
3. Get informed consent
Before beginning the research, make sure to give the participants a very detailed explanation of the objectives, expectations and usage of the data for the research’s objectives. Once they have that information, ask them to sign a written consent form whereby they allow you to use their data for the specific research.
4.Protect the data
Due to the nature of the data, it has the potential to do more harm than non-sensitive data. We advise you to create processes that guarantee full anonymity to the respondents as well as use secure communications channels for data transfers and storage.
5. Collaborate with interest groups
When conducting research on sensitive data, we strongly recommend working with stakeholders that have a better understanding of the topic. Cultural gatekeepers can help introduce you to potential participants and in some cases they can help “translate” the research’s context. Ask your cultural gatekeepers for feedback to your research and conclusions.
6. Plan your time well
As you plan your research, remember to give enough time to data collection and processing. Remember that the audience might respond differently and you need to make sure that you are giving them enough time to answer your questions.
While researching sensitive topics can be incredibly taxing and emotional, the data we get is very beneficial to society. It allows us to tackle social inequalities, design tailored products and better understand our audiences. But to do just so, we remind you to research with care and try putting the participants first.