ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

A commitment to good research practice also includes giving sufficient attention to the ethical issues surrounding the research. This is

particularly important when studying potentially vulnerable groups of people, such as those accessed for interview in this research. This section draws on some of the key ethical issues present within this research. The British Sociological Association Statement of Ethical Practice (2002) provides a valuable reference here. As such, this section explores four key areas to which attention to ethical issues was of importance. These include informed consent, confidentiality,

dissemination of findings, and securing the data. These are explored separately below.

3.8.1. INFORMED CONSENT

Sin (2005: 279) argues that ‘[r]esearch should, as far as possible, be based on freely given informed consent of research subjects who have been provided with adequate information on what is being done to them, the limits to their participation, as well as any potential risks they may incur by taking part in research’. Funk and Stajduhar (2009) argue  that the potential risk of interviewing is particularly concerning for family caregivers as it may disrupt coping processes, expose a sense of failure and threaten their sense of identity. They go on to conclude, however, that interviewing can positively impact on coping for family caregivers if it is undertaken ethically and with sensitivity. In this way,

133 obtaining the informed consent from my sample was of particular

importance.

Prior to the interview taking place, the majority of participants had been informed about the nature of the research and their involvement. This was done in one of four ways. Respondents accessed from

Organisation B and C had been present at a coffee morning attended by myself where I gave a talk about the research, which was also

translated into Urdu. Potential participants were then asked to volunteer if they wished to take part. Subjects from Organisation A were met and interviewed on the same day, however, I spent some considerable time explaining the research with the carers prior to respondents

volunteering themselves to be part of the research. The carer group leader from Organisation D was met in advance and given an

information sheet (see Appendix 05 for the information sheet given at this meeting), which was read out at a carers coffee morning. Potential respondents registered their interest with the carer group leader and a meeting was then set up in the offices of the organisation for the

interviews to take place. The remaining four participants were accessed through Bahir, a Muslim religious leader. After our initial meeting, she contacted a number of carers in her community and informed them about the nature of my research before giving me the names and telephone numbers of those choosing to be involved.

134 I began each interview by (re)introducing myself and ensuring that I spent some time explaining the context, purpose, and future use of the research. Additionally, I ensured that all participants understood that they were free to discontinue the interview at any point, and that they were under no obligation to answer any of the questions asked. They were then given an information sheet to keep, which was also read aloud and, if an interpreter was present, translated into Urdu.

Respondents were also invited to ask questions or voice concerns at any point during the interview.

3.8.2 CONFIDENTIALITY

The British Sociological Association Statement of Ethical Practice (2002: 5) instructs us that ‘[t]he anonymity and privacy of those who participate in the research process should be respected. Personal information concerning research participants should be kept

confidential’. To uphold this commitment, key identifying features were  removed from the interview transcripts. These features included the names of participants, their families, Mosques, schools and any other organisations accessed. Street names and specific geographic

locations were also removed. Where possible, all names were replaced with pseudonyms, otherwise, identifying features within the interview transcripts were replaced with the symbol: ‘****’. 

135 3.8.3 DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS

The British Sociological Association Statement of Ethical Practice (2002: 2) advises that researchers should be ‘aware that they have some responsibility for the use to which their data may be put and for how the research is to be disseminated’. As part of the information  sheet, participants were informed that the findings of the study would be predominantly circulated within academic circles. This was usually disappointing for participants who hoped that its impact could be far reaching. One participant even reflected at the end of their interview that the final thesis should ‘be taken to number ten and given to the  Prime Minister’. Although this research may be relatively small in scale,  I remain aware of the continued media spotlight on Muslim affairs and the possible interest my research may be to certain journalists.

3.8.4 SECURING THE DATA

The Statement of Ethical Practice for the British Sociological Association (2002) advises that ‘[a]ppropriate measures should be  taken to store research data in a secure manner’. Consequently,  interview transcripts and details about participants and gatekeepers were kept as password-protected files. Additionally, minidisk recordings of the interviews continue to be kept in a locked cabinet along with hard copies of the interview transcripts. The recordings will be kept for the appropriate amount of time before being destroyed in a secure manner.

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