Global and local methodological and ethical questions in researching football academies in Ghana

Do Western researchers in non-Western countries face special situations that require adopting a unique research methodology and ethics when conducting research with children? Are methodological and ethical rules, common in the West, also valid for research with children in non-Western countries? The present article addresses methodological and ethical questions that arise when conducting research with children in football academies in Ghana. The article focuses on five main issues that raise methodological and ethical questions: access to children, informed consent, power relations, reciprocity and the use of interviews as a research tool with children. Examples derived from my fieldwork in Ghana illustrate that universal ethical guidelines may restrict Western researchers to a far too rigid framework that does not take into consideration the local context. Thus, there is a need for culture-related methodology and ethics when we conduct studies with children in non-Western countries.