Between the devil and the deep blue sea: Negotiating ethics and method in communication research practice

Good research practice faces both ethical and methodological challenges that cannot always be met at the same time. The paper systematically relates research ethics to methodological issues discussing potential dilemmas. It sheds light on predicaments regarding every step of the standardized research process from study design to population and sampling, recruiting and refusal conversion, data collection and analysis as well as publication. We aim at increasing awareness of these dilemmas and encouraging scientific debate about possible solutions. We propose to make use of the rhetorical, case-based approach to research by McKee and Porter (2009) to meet this aim.