Ethical Considerations, Processes and Procedures

In order to construct an ethical representation of participants’ contributions to this research it was important to provide a safe and open environment where they could tell their stories with confidence. Although the initial survey was anonymous, the researcher’s

familiarity with the group made it possible to know who the respondents were. However, the use of pseudonyms was employed to code the transcript data for analysis.

It was therefore the researcher’s express desire to advise participants about the value of their comments, and reassure them of their anonymity and protection from ridicule or censorship, no matter how brief or detailed their opinions were. In turn, this meant being open to viewpoints which may have been different or contrary to the researcher’s own understanding of the subject matter (Hitchcock and Hughes, 1995). It was also extremely relevant to challenge prevailing assumptions about young female Emirati women with regard to their education and culture.

Ethics clearance for this research was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee at both Edith Cowan University (the institution at which the researcher was enrolled) and from the Ethics Committee of the institution where the participants were

recruited. Ethics clearance enabled the questionnaires to be administered and interviews to be conducted on appropriate days and times.

Questionnaire respondents were assured of anonymity, and written permission was obtained from all participants. They were provided with details of the study and informed of their right to withdraw at any time. In addition to these strategies, the rationale of the research was reiterated prior to the interviews with further guarantees of confidentiality and the right to withdraw at any time. Permission to use the tape recordings for the purpose of maintaining accuracy and avoiding bias was also obtained from the participants. They were informed that the findings of the research would be made available to local and international audiences as recommended by Cohen, et al. (2007). The researcher acknowledged a potential conflict of interests in recruiting participants from classes taught by her and the inherent familiarity of

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such an arrangement; however this was managed by using open-ended questions to generate dialogue, thereby restricting the interviewer’s responses and adopting a reflective listening style.

Professional experience invariably fashions the interpretation of participants’

perspectives on a subliminal level (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). Nevertheless, by “being explicit about personal opinions, perspectives and value orientations” (Brantlinger et al., 2005, p.198) it is possible for a qualitative study to maintain credibility. Every effort was made to

minimise any influence on the participants by using open-ended questions and restricting dialogue during the interviews to clarification only, as proposed by Denzin and Lincoln (2000).

3.4.1 Strengths and Restrictions of the Study

There are numerous accounts of the difficulties faced by researchers when dealing with new and unforeseen findings (Burns, 2000; Hitchcock & Hughes, 1995; Lincoln & Guba, 2003). The two main causes for concern in the literature are related to dependability and credibility. As with any findings which rely on the interpretation of individuals’ thoughts and feelings,this study was also mindful of the limitations about the quality of the information being convincing or believable.

Although the participant selection in both parts of the study were small, the qualitative research revealed findings wholly restricted to the opinions of the participants, and therefore cannot be generalised or assumed to be representative of a broader population (Brantlinger et al., 2005). The more in-depth details obtained from the quantitative data determine whether the findings are representative. However, the findings of this study may well highlight issues that exist in other contexts (Brantlinger et al., 2005), and in this regard the research provides a springboard for examining similarities and differences in other situations, in addition to further enlightening interested academics, administrators and teachers about specific cultural groups.

3.4.2 Rigour of the Study

It is problematic to apply quantitative standards of reliability and validity to qualitative

data, which by nature offers rich, subjective, individual information. Therefore other viable alternatives (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Lincoln & Guba, 2003) were used in this study,

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namely “authenticity” and “dependability”. There has been broad debate about the standards used to judge the quality of conclusions resulting from qualitative research. However, while the usual rigour focuses on the application of the method, some researchers believe it is equally important to consider the rigour in the process (Lincoln & Guba, 2003). Classical social scientists regard the method as important for drawing generalisations from the findings, while modern social scientists prefer to capture human life via emotions, feelings and experiences. The latter approach was used in this study to grasp what young, Emirati female media students had to say and to understand how they made meaning of their lives. This method of inquiry enhances social data by including the experiences and emotional traits of the human experience (Lincoln & Guba, 2003).

3.4.3 Authenticity

Authenticity, as defined by Miles and Huberman (1994), is made up of viewpoints, feelings, events and settings, to provide an account of the individuals involved. By including two separate groups of participants in this study it was possible to create a forum for all voices to be heard on issues related to their individual experiences. Although the stage one questionnaire provided demographic data for just one group, the participants selected were broadly representative of the kinds of students enrolled in the media course at the university. The open-ended questions in the questionnaire allowed those participants an opportunity to elaborate on their feelings, viewpoints and experiences. In stage two of the investigation, the more detailed accounts of participants’ experiences were used for confirmation and to extract greater richness and depth (Lincoln & Guba, 2003).

3.4.4 Dependability

In a principally qualitative study there are bound to be some limits to the dependability of its findings. As articulated by Miles and Huberman (1994), in order for a study to be dependable it must be assumed that it can be repeated with a consistency shown in the

observations recorded. However, it is equally accepted that conducting a similar investigation and using the same procedures may not necessarily produce the same outcomes. For

quantitative investigators this poses a dilemma in terms of legitimacy; however Burns (2000) argued that despite the subjective nature of the individual’s perspectives, a predictive insight into participants’ behaviour is achieved.

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Despite criticism of qualitative research for being anecdotal, small-scale and lacking in rigour, when conducted properly it can be reliable, credible and valid. It is appropriate and necessary for qualitative data to be tested for trustworthiness (Fenton & Mazulewicz, 2008; Gary, 2006). Denzin et al., (2011) cited dependability, transferability and creditability as key aspects of the trustworthiness of qualitative data. In considering the credibility of research findings it is imperative to establish that the data accurately represents and means what it claims to, and in this respect researchers should be mindful to validate all approaches to make the work more compelling.

Creswell (2006) and Creswell and Plano (2008) reiterated the need for evidence of credibility and dependability in research findings when analysing methods of data collection which produce comparable outcomes. Moreover, Flyvbjerg (2006) recommended the use of a tape-recorder to help remove bias, since precise transcripts rather than summary notes are documented.

An effective researcher can also build a strategy into interviews to ensure that

trustworthiness occurs through member checks. This provides an opportunity to not only play back the recordings, but allows contributors to clarify and interpret their comments (Tuckett, 2005). Flyvbjerg (2006) confirmed the value of member checks for making sure data have been interpreted appropriately. Constant comparison of data avoids any one aspect of the research being viewed as a fragment but rather as a whole, and makes it possible to identify unexpected or emerging themes.

The data collected for this particular research generated an alignment with the descriptors of the participants and allowed for replication at a later stage with a different cohort of students. Although the outcomes may be different, it is possible to conduct a similar investigation using the same procedures. In this way the current study provides a predictive insight into other female Emirati media students’ attitudes and behaviours. In qualitative research it is possible to replicate the inquiry but not the data or the findings. The interviews recorded reflected the views of a range of participants at different stages of their education, which meant that information could be cross-checked across multiple data sources. The use of a digital recorder to capture participants’ responses removed potential bias, as the

transcripts were analysed strictly according to what was said. It also facilitated clarification by participants while the interviews were being recorded. Subsequent readings of the

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interview transcripts aided the researcher’s comparison of the data in order to identify new or emerging themes.

3.4.5 Generalisability

Smyth and Hattam’s (2004) interpretation of generalisability in qualitative research referred to generalisation to a similar case and is somewhat different from the usual statistical explanation. As this study was rooted in an interpretive process with the objective of

articulating individuals’ perspectives of reality, the concept of generalisability refers to the extent to which the findings may pertain to a wider population or different contexts. The findings of this study were analysed in a social constructivist paradigm, so in order to verify their usefulness it was important to determine the extent to which they refer to other settings or a wider population. Essentially, the study articulated the inferences that could be drawn from the data and how broadly the findings can be applied. The value of generalisability in a qualitative study depends on the researcher’s understanding of the topic under study and her ability to apply critical thinking to the experiences of others for deducing salient factors.

This piece of research used the views of Smyth and Hattam (2004) as a reference point for generalisability. Yin (1994) was concerned with rigour in non-experimental research and concluded that studies do not need a minimum number or randomly selected cases. However, he emphasised the benefits of working with the situation that presents itself, and proposed using a qualitative approach where it lends itself to the structure of the research.

The participants in this study were not regarded as a selection of a much larger

population of students about whom the study was intended to generalise, but as an example of students in a particular context and specific community. While selection of this group did involve consideration of representation, the primary concern was not generalisation but developing a satisfactory description, interpretation and explanation of the research (Maxwell, 2005).

External validity is concerned with comparability, which means the ability of other researchers to expand on the facts supplied by the richness and depth of the original study. While translatability relates to the extent to which research can be translated across

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cultural assumptions. Optimal ways of ensuring meanings are carried across languages in ways that reflect different viewpoints were essential to the theory and procedures in this case.

The trustworthiness of the findings increases once the data analysis and conclusions are verified in a logical manner, encased by participants’ perspectives and the project’s data sequence of evidence (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996). Establishing a chain of evidence which shows a logical connection between the research questions, procedures undertaken, the raw data and the results, makes it possible for others to arrive at similar conclusions. A

representativeness check establishes the data’s chain of evidence and confirms an individual or group perspective of reality (Leedy, 1997). The findings can also however, inform

stakeholders of issues which may be present in other contexts (Brantlinger et al., 2005) by scrutinising individual contexts for similarities and differences applicable to their domains.

As previously mentioned, the participants of this study were known to the researcher and as a result there was a close bond between the parties. This familiarity led to a deep understanding of the context being investigated via media students of this particular

university. Since they formed just one part of the wider university population, it is believed the interpretive process which revealed their perspectives of reality could apply to other students in a similar setting.

The researcher produced a set of logical interviewquestions based on her insights of the culture and a review of the current literature on the topic, and then considered the procedures that would generate a reputable and appropriate range of data. Participants’ responses were coded according to themes believed to be most important for establishing credibility, as well as having potential for significant conclusions.

3.4.6 Conclusion

This chapter described the ways in which this research investigated the relationship between education and culture of female Emirati university students, underpinned by a constructivist epistemology conversant with an interpretivist paradigm.

A mainly qualitative, mixed-methods approach grounded the study in the participants’ everyday lives and social reality. Educational researchers are encouraged to harmonise dissimilar methodologies in order to align the purpose and context of their research (Odom et

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al., 2005), and established researchers like Dewey and Skinner concurred that methodology needs to reflect both the research questions and purpose of the study.

The aim of this study was to identify and understand how young, Emirati women were responding to higher education opportunities. Furthermore, the study sought to examine the role of culture in their university experiences and the changes that female Emirati students undergo in their personal and educational development. Through the use of a questionnaire, open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews, quantitative and qualitative data were collected to present the opinions and experiences of the respondents. While limitations with qualitative methods have been acknowledged, there are also benefits to be derived from this kind of study, particularly with regard to gaining a deeper understanding of the lives of participants and their views of reality.

The following chapter outlines the findings that emerged from the data collected via the methods outlined above.

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