Ethical Considerations

Research ethics can be defined as the moral principles that should be adhered to by researchers when conducting studies (Greener, 2008). Research ethics are made important by the fact that research participants and the researcher have different interests in the study. Adherence with the research ethics by the researcher is therefore intended to protect the interests of the research participants (Greener, 2008). Researchers are required to comply with research principles by professional bodies and research committees at universities for their studies to be approved (Howitt and Cramer, 2011). Failure to comply with research ethics can result in the researcher being reported to professional bodies for penalties (Howitt and Cramer, 2011). Complying with research ethics can also enhance the credibility of the study in the eyes of the public or the research participants (Greener, 2008). In fact, the targeted research participants would be willing to participate in a study if the researcher is complying with the research ethics (Greener, 2008). It is, therefore, of paramount importance for the researcher to be ethical during the course of conducting a study. Existing research ethics were complied with in this study. The next sections explain how the ethics were adhered to.

It is the requirement of the university for students to get ethical clearance before proceeding with data collection (Greener, 2008). An ethical clearance form was completed by the researcher and ethical clearance was granted by the university’s research committee upon being satisfied with the researcher’s ethical conduct. The granting of the ethical clearance by the university research committee gave the researcher the go-ahead to proceed with the research. Research participants ought to be given adequate information about the study, in order to make informed decisions about participating in the study (Bhattacherjee, 2012). In fact, it is unethical for a researcher to coerce research participants to take part in the study or trick them into participating (Bhattacherjee, 2012). The research participants of this study were given all the pertinent information of the study, through a cover letter that was attached to the questionnaire for them to make informed decisions about participating. The attachment of the informational cover letter assisted the research participants with understanding the purpose of the study, the fact that participation was voluntary and that their rights to confidentiality and anonymity would be respected in the study. The cover letter also made it clear that the research participants had the right to withdraw from the study at any time when they felt their rights were being violated.

Respecting of anonymity entails the concealing of the identity of the research participants in the research report, while confidentiality entails the respecting of the privacy of the respondents by keeping their private information secure (Saunders, et al., 2009). Saunders, et al. (2009)

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argue that the rights of the research participants ought to be respected in the research report by respecting their confidentiality and anonymity. No names of research participants and their companies had been reported in the research report, in order to conceal their identity. The private information of the research participants is also not reported in the research report, in order to protect them.

Researchers are required not to expose the research participants to any form of harm (Howitt and Cramer, 2011). The harm can either be in the form of physical harm of emotional harm (Kumar, 2011). There was no possibility of physical harm to the research participants who participated in this study. However, the possibility of emotional harm was a reality through sensitive questions. Pilot testing of the research instrument was also aimed at eliminating sensitive questions from the research instrument. Thus, the study complied with avoiding emotional harm to the respondents.

Researchers are also expected to be honest during the course of conducting a study (Greener, 2008). The honest conduct can be through recording data objectively, using appropriate research methods in conducting the study and not misleading readers in the research findings (Greener, 2008). Researcher bias in data collection was eliminated in the study by using self-administered questionnaires. The research participants completed the questionnaires on their own without undue influence from the researcher. The bias of the research participants was eliminated by the use of close-ended questions. Suitable research methods were employed in the study. All the research methods used in the study have been justified by what is reported in existing literature on research design and methodology. Finally, the reported research findings are the true outcome from the quantitative analysis employed in the study. Thus, the research findings have not been falsified.

3.12 Conclusion

This chapter outlined the research design and methodology that were used in the study. The study used the explanatory and descriptive research designs, as well as the quantitative research methodology that is compatible with the two research designs. The survey research strategy was used as the guiding strategy in data collection. A questionnaire which was compatible with survey strategy and the quantitative and qualitative research approaches was used in collecting data from a sample size of 30 contractors, 50 consultants and 10 clients who were selected at random. Two quantitative analysis methods, namely descriptive and inferential analysis, were used to make sense of the data that were collected. The results from the quantitative and qualitative analysis are presented and discussed in the next chapter.

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