Various ethical issues, principles, checklists and guidelines are discussed in qualitative research literature. Commonly-cited ethical issues can generally be classified as one of four overlapping principles: minimising harm to participants, informed consent, invasion of privacy, or deception (Bryman, 2004). However, as Creswell (2009) points out, ethics is more than following a set of guidelines. Principles and guidelines need to be tailored to suit the individual context of the research and researchers need to be cognisant of these principles at each stage of their research, from the initial defining of the problem to the final report (Cohen et al., 2007; Creswell, 2009). Importantly, Cohen et al. (2007) warn that the distinction between ethical and unethical behaviour is not dichotomous. Rather, judgements about ethical behaviour lie on a continuum and must be interpreted in terms of the research context. Ultimately, it is the researcher’s responsibility to use empathy, intuition, intelligence, and experience in perceiving emerging dangers and avoiding intrusion (Stake, 2010). Lichtman (2013) also highlights the importance of the researcher establishing rapport and friendliness to ensure a trustworthy environment and being sensitive to any status position they may hold with their participants.
This research acknowledges the researcher’s responsibility to protect and respect the rights of the participants and to plan for and remain aware of potential ethical issues throughout. The study conforms to the requirements of the University of Waikato Ethical Conduct in Human Research and Related Activities Regulations 2008. Ethics approval was received from the University of Waikato Human Research Ethics Committee 23 July, 2010, with approval of a subsequent request to add another round of interviews, 18 November, 2010 (see Appendices D and E). The main considerations are summarised below in relation to the general
principles of obtaining prior informed consent from participants, respecting participants’ privacy and confidentiality, and minimisation of harm.
3.5.1 Informed consent
Informed consent involves a person being free to choose whether or not to take part in research after being provided with all the information upon which to make an informed decision (Cohen et al., 2007). As Bryman (2004) points out, this is not as straightforward as it seems because of the difficulty of providing all the information that a participant may need in order to make a fully informed decision. Bryman suggests most social research includes some minor transgressions, such as underestimating the length of time an interview may take so that participants are not put off taking part.
In this research, informed consent was obtained first from the Principal via a formal letter (see Appendix B), in order to conduct the research in the school, and with the particular teachers selected. The letter explained the nature and purpose of the study; the extent of participant involvement, including the types of activities and data collection methods, how many and the approximate timing of these; the participant’s right to decline or withdraw and the procedures for doing so; the form in which the findings would be published; the participant’s right to access personal information; and procedures for secure storage of data.
Once consent was obtained from the Principals, informed consent was also sought from the teachers via a formal letter along similar lines to the letter to Principals (see Appendix C). Details of participant involvement and researcher expectations were also included and reinforced in email and phone communication, and as part of the initial group workshop.
3.5.2 Privacy and confidentiality
Participants’ right to privacy and confidentiality must be respected throughout the research process and in any subsequent publications or dissemination of findings. This involves ensuring that participants cannot be publicly identified, and taking due care to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of any personal information. In addition, any organisation involved (such as the three schools in this study),
must also be protected from identification (Lichtman, 2013). Furthermore, any stored data that could identify participants must not be kept longer than the required period.
In this study the identity of participants and their schools is protected by using pseudonyms for the participants and schools in all reporting of data and findings. However, as Bryman (2004) points out, in qualitative research it can be difficult to entirely eliminate the possibility of identification, and it is acknowledged that descriptions of the unique context of individual schools in the report may be identifiable by people in the school community who are aware of the research. In this way it is also possible that an individual participant could be identified. This risk is minimised by careful reporting of such details.
3.5.3 Minimisation of harm
Researchers must endeavour to identify any potential harm or negative consequences that participants may suffer as a result of their involvement in the study, and to plan and follow procedures to minimise these. In social research, harm is rarely physical. Rather, possible harm includes stress, fatigue, exposure, humiliation, embarrassment, loss of respect and self-respect, and loss of standing in a group.
Participants have the right to expect that the researcher will not be too intrusive on their time, space, and personal lives (Lichtman, 2013). In this study it is recognised that the teacher’s school day is busy and constrained by rigid timetables, and thus the extra demand of fitting in an interview, being observed, or attending a workshop could cause harm by adding stress or fatigue. This was an important consideration in planning and conducting this research, as discussed earlier in this chapter.
3.6 Chapter summary
This chapter described the methodology and design of this research. The research was positioned in the interpretive tradition and the underpinning philosophy and assumptions were explained. The main aim of interpretive research was described
as understanding the subjective world of participants, which involves the researcher becoming immersed in the participants’ social world in order to understand and interpret their experience and motives.
The qualitative approach employed in this research was discussed and issues relating to quality in qualitative interpretive research were identified. The criteria used to guide quality in this research were identified and explained. The criteria included: sustained involvement in the field, triangulation of data, providing rich detail, and revealing the role of the researcher.
The case study approach and data collection methods used in the research were described and the purposive approach used to select and recruit participants was justified. The approach used for data analysis was described before explaining the ethical considerations that were relevant to this study, and how they were observed.
The next chapter presents an overview of the intervention design and provides details of the components of each of the three phases.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE INTERVENTION
4.0 Introduction
The overall aim of this research was to design, implement and evaluate an intervention to support technology teachers to enhance their integration of web- based resources (WBRs) into their teaching. The intervention involved seven teachers in three different secondary schools participating in a sustained programme of professional development and classroom implementation of WBRs. A brief overview of the three phases of the intervention was presented in Section 3.3.2 (see Table 3.1). This chapter provides a more detailed description and explanation of the design of the intervention. It includes an overview of the general principles that guided the design and details the components and purpose of each of the three phases of the research intervention.