Ethical issues in the documentary data analysis of Internet posts and archives

The documentary analysis of email posts and archives for qualitative resear ch has been outlined elsewhere. Although there is an increase in the number of studies being conducted on listserv and newsgroup material in health re search, this has not always been accompanied by a careful, in-depth conside ration of the concomitant ethical issues. Therefore, this article outlines the ethical considerations surrounding this form of research, including iss ues of accessing voices, consent, privacy, anonymity, interpretation, and o wnership and authorship of research material.