Ethical considerations

Kimmel (1988: 36) demonstrates that ethical problems can be categorised according to the level of the research process that they most directly affect. The three levels are the participants; the society in and for which the research is conducted; and the body of scientific knowledge to which the results and conclusions are incorporated. With no specific requirements with regards to research methods or the use of the data set by the funding bodies (the university and the foundations named in the foreword to this thesis), and with no potential harm to society resultant from this research, ethical issues concern the interests of the human participants and the scientific accuracy of the data. These issues will be elaborated in the following sections.

3.5.1. Ethical issues relating to the participants

With the absence of experimentation, covert methods, participant observation etc., ethical issues regarding the participants of the research mainly concern the principle of informed consent and publishing of sensitive information.

Ethical research includes the principle of informed consent, whose essence is that

‘the human subjects of research should be allowed to agree or refuse to participate in the light of comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of the research’ (Homan 1991: 69). Along to these guidelines, all participants in this research were given a comprehensive account of the nature of the research prior to participation. Moreover, all interviews were conducted to interviewees’ consent and no data collection took place without participants’ consent and prior knowledge.

Interviews were recorded with interviewees’ permission, and the interviewees were informed about the use of the data.

Information gathered through empirical research was used for research purposes only. In cases in which the use of primary sources required permission from a relevant authority, only non-confidential documents relevant for research purposes were used.

As some of the interviews contained data which the interviewees considered sensitive, the interviewees were offered an opportunity to give their account ‘off the record’ or ‘unattributable’. However, nobody chose to use this opportunity. If an interviewee expressed concerns during an interview about publication of sensitive information, a confirmation was sought at the end of the interview to associate the information to the interviewee. Interviewees’ requests that sensitive data would not be used in the research in a way that could cause an offence were respected, where appropriate. If an interviewee gave information with potential to cause controversy or harm, but which was otherwise crucial for the aims of the research, efforts were made not to reveal the interviewee’s identity.

3.5.2. Ethical issues and interests of scientific knowledge

Ethical research practice also includes a commitment to achieving valid results, which are not collected simply to verify our pre-existing prejudices or convince others to take action on behalf of our personal interests (Schutt 2009: 72-3). Bias, essentially ‘a predisposition or prejudice for or against a theory, person, group or institution which may distort or skew cognisance and interpretation of phenomena’ (Pierce 2008: 17), may occur if a researcher tries to hide something they have found in a study, or highlight something disproportionately to its true existence. This includes ‘cooking’

(the selection of only those data that fit the research hypothesis), ‘trimming’ (the manipulation of data to make them look better), or ‘forging’ (the complete fabrication of data) (Kimmel 1988: 39). The use of inappropriate methods or procedures, which are known to produce misleading and biased results, are also considered forms of bias (Kumar 1996: 195).

Bias may occur in either gathering the empirical data or reporting the research results. At the data gathering stage, this includes intentional selection of sources and/or data. Measures to avoid data gathering bias taken for this research included developing a robust methodological framework for gathering of quantitative data (see Television output research). Interviewees were – where possible – selected to represent different organisations (see Triangulation) to gain a more balanced picture.

In a similar manner, in reporting the empirical research, the principle of ‘the pursuit of truth’ (Homan 1991: 6) was respected and aspired to throughout the study. A detailed description of study procedures, methodological approach and research methods is provided in the thesis (Schutt 2009: 74). Empirical research results were presented truthfully, without omitting data from the study on grounds of mismatch with other results. Efforts were made to truthfully present a balanced view of contrasting opinions where applicable.

Good research practice also requires it to be declared that funding for this research was received from sources that are associated with some of the institutions under observation in this research; the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s MTV fund, the Research Centre of the Church (Kirkon Tutkimuskeskus) and the Media Foundation

of the Church in Finland (Kirkon Mediasäätiö). However, the grant from the MTV fund was received through the Finnish Cultural Foundation, which ensures that there is no direct connection between MTV Oy and the grant recipient. The Research Centre of the Church and the Media Foundation of the Church, in turn, are both administratively part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, which also funds the provision of devotional programmes produced for Yleisradio by Kirkon tiedotuskeskus. The two latter organisations support independent and objective research on matters of religion and operations of the Church, and did not set requirements of any kind for the research conduct or interpretation of the research results. Furthermore, both grants were received at the writing up stage (both in December 2011), when conclusions and recommendations had already been made.

3.6. Conclusion

This chapter examined the analytical framework, research design and methodologies utilised in this study. As marketisation is a process, whose comprehension requires a comparative account of its impacts on organisations and political institutions grounded in different prior histories (Murdock 2004: 30), the study adopts a comparative case study design. The UK and Finland were selected as the national cases because of the comparability of their broadcasting organisations, whose organisational cultures were – until recently – heavily influenced by the legacy of the public service paradigm. Furthermore, children’s and religious programmes were selected for the research mainly because previous research demonstrate that these programme types represent two ‘most different’ cases in the minority programme spectrum in terms of their prospects, but also because these programme types have enjoyed a specific regulatory protection, thus enabling analysis of the role of regulation in maintaining output of these programmes.

Given the nature of broadcasting as social activity which takes place in – and is shaped by – its institutional setting, i.e. broadcasting organisations, institutionalism provides an apt analytical framework for the study. The historical institutionalism variant of new institutionalism was selected to the study for its benefits in undertaking

longitudinal analysis on large-scale historical processes and its capacity to examine continuities and changes within institutions utilising the theory of path dependence.

The key deficiency of historical institutionalism, however, pertains to the degree of resolution of its analytical lens. Historical institutionalism is not a particularly fertile source of explanations for institutional change especially in organisations that operate in a dynamic market environment and must therefore adjust their conduct according to the requirements of the market. In order to address this key deficiency, a customised explanatory model utilising the Industrial Organisation Model – or the Structure-Conduct-Performance Paradigm (SCPP) – is posited. The customised model is referred to in this study as the Industrial Equilibrium Model. The key benefits of the Industrial Equilibrium Model pertain to its ability to sharpen the analytical lens of historical institutionalism in analysing institutional change, while it also provides a dynamic model of the causal relationship between the structure of an industry, firm conduct and performance. As historical institutionalism lacks a model that explains institutional logic at critical junctures beyond that of the legacy of past institutional configurations, the Industrial Equilibrium Model can be considered to greatly improve the explanatory power of historical institutionalism, as successful analysis of the impact of marketisation-driven changes in a broadcasting company operating in a dynamic market environment requires an explanatory model that establishes a causal relationship between the political and commercial forces in the broadcasting environment; the strategies of broadcasting institutions; and their performance. In so doing, it facilitates the use of programming data as empirical evidence of consistency and change in institutional conduct.

This mixed method study utilises three primary data gathering methods. Changes in television output were examined through a quantitative analysis of television output on selected UK and Finnish terrestrial channels between 1986 and 2009. Analysis of this quantitative data informs and guides the second method: interviews with broadcasting associates, which seek to explain the quantitative research results in more detail. Analysis on primary and secondary source documents and literature represents the third method in the study.

4. Marketisation and transformations in broadcasting