Ethical Consideration

I used a qualitative approach that involved human participants in this study, which of necessity made me interact with the participants. I therefore entered the private spaces/personal domains of values, rights, needs, desires and beliefs of the participants to collect data (Creswell, 2003; Silverman, 2000; Miles and Huberman, 1994). In doing this, the research received full ethical approval in line with Anglia Ruskin University Research Ethics Board’s ethical guidelines to which application was made. Because the data for this study was to be collected in Nigeria, ethical application was also made to and approved by the University of Benin Ethical Board Committee, Edo State, Nigeria. Various ethical issues were considered before, during and after data collection and these included the principles of informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, and protection from harm.

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4.10.1 Informed Consent

Informed consent is an ethical principle that implies a responsibility on the part of the social researcher to ensure that research participants not only agree and consent to participating in the research, without being pressured, but that they are fully informed about what they are consenting to (Davies, 2006). Informed consent statements were provided to the research participants containing statements assuring participants of the voluntary nature of their participation and their right to withdraw at any stage of the research if they wished. Davies (2006) explained that informed consent involves three important elements:

1. Information: informing the participants what the study is about;

2. Voluntariness: ensuring that the participant understands that s/he can decide to withdraw from the study at any time s/he wants to;

3. Comprehension: ensuring that the participants understand what the study is about and their role in the study.

When providing information, I ensured that participants were given sufficient details about the nature of the research and the procedures that would be involved. I made clear to all participants the objectives of the study, the potential risks that might arise if there were any, and the benefits that were expected from the study. The latter will be derived from the final report of the research being disseminated to the Department of Child Development in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development. Findings are expected to contribute to putting intervention programmes in place for the community.

4.10.2 Voluntary Participation

Consent was freely given at every stage of the research and participants were informed that they could withdraw at any stage of the research process without prejudice or consequences. Parents/guardians of the child participants were provided with informed consent forms on behalf of their children. They were also informed that their children’s participation in the project is entirely voluntary and it is their (parents/guardians) decision to allow their children to participate and their children’s decision to take part in the study if they (parents/guardians) consent to it. The child participants were provided with assent forms before they were allowed to participate. Agreement between the parents/guardians and the children took place prior to

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the latter’s participation in the study. Children also had the right to withdraw at any stage of the research process. All participants were duly informed, both verbally and in writing, of their participation in the study and they were regularly reminded of being free to withdraw at any stage of the research if they desired to.

4.10.3 Confidentiality

Each participant is entitled to privacy and confidentiality. Confidentiality is the principle that information about participants in a research study will be kept private and will only be revealed with the consent of the participants (Israel and Hay, 2006). Participants were briefed on their roles in respecting confidentiality. I ensured that each person had the right to decide on the time for the interview, the extent to which they could withhold information and the circumstances that might make them withhold anything. All participants were assured that any discussions with them would be kept in confidence. There was complete confidentiality before, during and after the session. For the children participants, I explained before the commencement of the interview that there might be an extent to which the confidentiality and anonymity of the interview with them might have to be broken if the need arose, such as a situation where their or someone else’s life was in danger.

The child participants were informed of the expectations of them to tell the story the way it is without fear of information being revealed to anyone else; and if confidentiality had to be broken it would be a case of putting their interest first so that their lives would not be endangered. I had a duty to ensure the safety of the child participants and other children for whom I had responsibility as a researcher, and to guarantee confidentiality if the child or other children were at risk of significant harm or where there emerged information regarding incidents likely to cause harm.

I upheld the principles of confidentiality and followed the procedure in line with data storage and retention. All data were kept securely in locked rooms, within locked filing cabinets and were not shared with any third party without the participants’ consent; all electronic data were password protected.

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4.10.4 Anonymity

Anonymity was used to protect the privacy of all participants and their identity was not revealed. Alpha-numeric codes, instead of their real names, were used to identify each participant in the study. Participants were assured of anonymity throughout the study. Information about the storage of the data, who will have access to it and how it will be used, was given to the participants in a clear language that could be understood by them.

4.10.5 Protection from Harm

I was mindful of any action that might cause physical or emotional harm to the participants. Such action includes being careful of how sensitive the research questions were and/or how difficult questions were worded during interviews. I took responsibility for protecting every participant from whatever harm that might befall them, for example, emotional stress, embarrassment or whatever situation might put the participants at a disadvantage by reason of the fact that he or she is participating in the project. I decided that if any of the child participants who were of vulnerable age became distressed during the focus group, the session would be immediately stopped. It was decided that children in such condition would be adequately attended to with the assistance of a qualified support worker who was identified as a professional counsellor in the community. The support worker was informed of the research prior to the commencement of the study, and the support worker and I developed a plan for how children who might need help during the discussion would be supported.

4.10.6 Respect for Human Dignity

This is an act of protecting the overall interests of the participants and includes taking into account the physical, psychological, social and emotional effect the research may have on them. Letters detailing the purpose of the research, methods to be used for the study and how information provided would be used, were distributed to the research participants. The letter assured them that all information shared during the study would be kept confidential and they were also reassured of their anonymity in the project. In this regard, participants were informed that their identity would not be revealed and that any information obtained would be held in strict confidence and used only for academic purposes. To ensure that the ethical guidelines

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were followed, personal data of participants were removed during the transcription process and quotes from the interview were not identifiable to the participants. I was careful in ensuring that participants were treated with respect and their dignity preserved, by giving every participant the opportunity to express themselves whilst showing appreciation for every piece of information provided by each of them. At the end of the interviews, all participants were given the opportunity for debriefing. All interview tapes, personal data and the research data that was obtained were kept securely with password protection to ensure that no one else, apart from me, had access to them.

4.11 CHAPTER SUMMARY

In this chapter I have explored the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of the research. I have discussed a case study framework approach that is rooted in a social constructivist philosophy as valid in the research because it allows different stakeholders’ perspectives to be discussed. This has helped in the emergence of key concepts in the research. A social constructivist approach allows meanings to be constructed together and makes it possible to get the perspective of all the participants in the study.

The case study approach to the collection of data and the data analysis was qualitative with the methodological decisions aimed at enhancing the production of knowledge in this study. The chapter further discusses the ethical considerations for the study and the validity of the findings.

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CHAPTER 5: THEMATIC FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS WITH ALL