Ethical Considerations

3.8 Ethical Considerations

A researcher occupies a complex position. Consequently, in order that the researcher‟s pursuit of knowledge is not compromised during the entire research process and participants are protected; several ethical issues were taken into account. The ethical issues involved in research are frequently multifaceted and can be contradictory. As in every research, ethical dilemmas were encountered but every effort was be made to resolve them and/or to reduce their impacts. Figure 3.5 itemises the ethical considerations which were taken into account in this research.

Figure 3.5: Ethical Considerations

3.8.1 Access

One of the first hurdles to surmount in the fieldwork aspect of research is the issue of access (Bogdan and Biklen, 2003). Informed consent lays the foundation to gain access to research site especially if the researcher‟s presence will be over an extended period of time. Before a researcher can be granted permission to operate within a given space, gatekeepers ought to be sufficiently informed about the research. Firstly, permission was sought from the MOE in Jamaica to carry out research in public educational institutions. Letters were prepared for each director of the Educational Zones. However, access granted by the Permanent Secretary of education was sufficient to be able to access all schools throughout the island. Permission for access was granted on a staggered basis through formal letters which were addressed to Principals (see Appendix1). From the letters received, MMPS was selected as the case school based on its location to the researcher and it being situated further afield to the politically volatile

Access

Institutional Consent Informed consent Informed participation Confidentiality

Power

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areas. The national election in Jamaica was slated for 2007 hence, careful selection of the research site was crucial since there were emerging incidents of political unrest.

3.8.2 Institutional Consent

Having received selected MMPS as the case school, the researcher made telephone contact with the Principal and agreed a mutually convenient date and time for a meeting. At the meeting, the researcher‟s credentials were verified using copies of letters from the university, researcher supervisor, and Ethics Committee. After receiving the Principal‟s clearance, the researcher was later introduced to the school‟s Vice Principals. A letter to the general staff introducing the researcher and the aims of research project was also given to the Principal to be read at the then upcoming staff meeting (see Appendix 2). The researcher was later formally introduced to the school‟s PTA, which gave further legitimacy to the researcher‟s presence in the school.

Gaining access to the research site signalled the start of a researcher‟s affiliation that, by necessity required further nurturing and development (Roth, 2005). This was especially since the researcher would have been operating in the research field for an extended period of time where issues of trust and harmonious interactions would have been crucial to the success of the research. As was previously mentioned, the researcher did not take for granted access to teachers‟ classrooms. As was aforementioned, in order to gain access to their classroom spaces to observe lessons, the researcher approached teachers individually and each encounter was treated as acts of re-negotiation. Staff and PTA meetings were also observed.

Researchers sometimes act as a participant in the research site (Roth, 2005). The researcher can associate with this in that the school benefited from the available extra pair of hands. It is worth noting that whilst this was the case, even when assisting in the day-to-day realities of the school she wore her „researcher‟s hat‟ in order to safeguard the purpose and integrity of the research project. Importantly, being an active participant offered invaluable way of „seeing and experiencing‟ the realities of the phenomenon being enquired.

3.8.3 Informed Consent

One of the critical issues involved in research is informed consent. This refers to the act of giving prospective participants the opportunity to accept or decline to engage in the research with full information regarding the function, aims, objectives and potential

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harm that such an involvement may have (Bulmer, 2001). There are two critical aspects to that which constitutes „informed consent‟. Firstly, there is the need for participants to understand and secondly to voluntarily agree to the research and their role of participation in it (Isreal and Hay, 2006). The participants‟ right to freedom and self-determination is the premise on which informed consent rests. They also have the right to withdraw even after consent has been given. Critically, informed consent can only be seen as such only after all the relevant information has been given to participants that would impact their decision to participate or not (Johnson and Christensen, 2008 and Cohen et al, 2000).

The researcher came into direct contact with children greater precautions were taken to uphold high ethical integrity of the research process. With specific regards to the interviews with children with SEN the researcher got written consent from both the pupils with SEN and their parents (see Appendix 6). The researcher tried not to be alone with pupils. However, to achieve this, compromise had to be made in the area of privacy, since one of the realities of shift schools is space constraint where having a private area and simultaneously having an adult available was sometimes impossible.

Therefore, the decision was made to do the interviews where another adult was present but this was not always in a totally private area due to existing constraints.

3.8.4 Confidentiality

In this research participants were assured that the information that supplied would have been treated with the strict confidentiality. To achieve this, information in note books were stored safely and contents were not revealed to other parties. In addition, information that was word-processed was stored using security coded password to further protect data. The researcher was also aware that there are restrictions to the promise of confidentiality if terms of legal issues (Denscome, 2002) especially since children were involved in the research. Fortunately, there was no occurrence that warranted an over-riding of the principle of confidentiality.

3.8.5 Anonymity

Oliver (2003) posits that anonymity is the „cornerstone‟ of research ethics, which is, offering participants the chance to have their identity concealed. It is usually good practice that research material is presented in such a manner that the identity of participants (whether by name or role) is undiscoverable. However, exceptions can be

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made to this convention. In such a case the researcher needs to be absolutely certain that participants are in agreement with their identity being exposed and as such permission should be secured in writing (Denscome, 2002) and preferably witnessed too.

Pseudonyms were used for all research participants and schools involved in the research so that they cannot be traced.

3.8.6 Power

The issue of power in the research process is generally accepted as a fact; it is more a question of how much rather than if it does. According to Kinchele and Berry (2004, p.

2) research is a “power-driven act”. In essence, a researcher exercises the power to evaluate circumstances and construct an account of what is actually happening, that is, defining what is accepted as reality (Schostak and Schostak, 2008). Therefore, researchers should be aware of this and put measures in place to manage this influence that comes with operating in a research space. A researcher‟s attributes (age, gender, class and race) and attitudes affect research activities (O‟Leary, 2004). Not only should participants be informed in both a written and verbal manner about their rights to withdraw from the research process, but also the researcher should eliminate (as much as it is possible) any pressure that makes it appear to the contrary. The researcher should in no manner exert pressure on participants that can minimise their perception that their right to withdraw is indeed genuine (Johnson and Christensen, 2008). The researcher‟s experience has been one of being in a position where her opinions were valued by virtue of level and place of education. Therefore, care was taken not to abuse the sphere of influence. The next section will explain the measures that were taken to authenticate and verify research activities.