Ethical Considerations

Ethical issues arise from all forms of research, whether it is qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods due to the fact that research dealing with human participants is an intrusion into their lives (Cohen et al., 2011, Punch, 2009). The initial step I took to ensure following ethical standards was obtaining ethical approval to conduct my research from the AREA Faculty Research Ethics Committee at the University of Leeds (see Appendix B). As part of the process of applying for ethical approval, the significance of a number of ethical issues, in particular, became apparent to me. I discuss these issues below.

3.3.1 Access and Acceptance

Access and acceptance means “access to the institution or organization where the research is to be conducted, and acceptance by those whose permission one needs before embarking on the task” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 81). Access issues usually involve different levels of approval, the first stage of which is gaining official permission to conduct the research on the target site. Being a member of staff at COLT, I considered this as the target site due to the likelihood of gaining access and acceptance easily. I wrote a formal letter to my sponsors, the Saudi Cultural Bureau in the UK, explaining the purpose of the study, along with details on the nature, data collection methods, the possible benefits of this research as well as the number of sessions and procedures followed in each. I also had to attach a letter from my supervisors which stated that they approved the study and outlined the aims of the research. My sponsors contacted KSU on my behalf, who gave me the official permission to conduct the study at COLT (see Appendix C for letter).

On a lower level, I contacted the Listening 4 course teacher, via one of my colleagues on site, who agreed to cooperate in recruiting participants for the study. Cohen et al. (2011) state “achieving goodwill and cooperation is especially important where the proposed research extends over a period of time” (p. 82), which was the case in my study. Hence, I had to ensure the cooperation of the course teacher in the first place. Being a member of staff at COLT facilitated access and acceptance issues. However, I entered the field as an overt researcher, and this was made clear to students in the recruitment and informed consent letters. Although I was a member of staff at COLT, the participants did not know me previously as I have been away doing my graduate studies as a full-time student in the UK.

3.3.2 Informed Consent

Informed consent is regarded as the most fundamental ethical principle involved (Burns, 2000), the basic principle behind it being “the subject‟s right to freedom and self-determination” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 77). Self-determination entails that the participants are the ones who have the right to decide for themselves whether to be involved in the research or not, by weighing up the benefits and potential risks

(ibid). According to Cohen et al. (2011), the concept of informed consent involves four main elements: competence, voluntarism, full information, and comprehension (p. 78). Competence means that individuals who are responsible and mature will be able to take the right decisions based on receiving relevant information about the research. Voluntarism entails that participants are given the right to freely choose whether to be involved in the research or not. Full information means that participants are fully informed about the consequences of taking part in the research. Finally, comprehension entails that the participants understand the nature of the research fully, including potential risks. The presence of these four elements, in particular, ensures that the “subjects‟ rights will have been given appropriate consideration” (ibid).

The participants I approached were all mature and responsible enough to decide for themselves whether to be involved in the research or not. The informed consent letter I gave them to sign before commencing the study contained full information, including the length of the study and made clear that the sessions would be taking place in their free time during university hours. The letter explained the nature and purpose of the study and the consequences of taking part in it. They were also provided with my contact details for further inquiries. The participants were reassured of anonymity, confidentiality, right to withdraw at any point in the study and that the data will be only used for research purposes (see Appendix D for informed consent letter). The informed consent letter was translated into the participants‟ native language, as advised in the literature (Mackey and Gass, 2005), and purposefully avoided jargon to make it as evident as possible to the participants and, hence, ensure comprehension. I also debriefed the students in the first session I met with them. Participants were also informed of their right to inquire about their grades on the TOEFL tests by the end of the study.

Informed consent implies “voluntary agreement to participate in a study about which the potential subject has enough information and understands enough to make an informed decision” (Mackey and Gass, 2005, p. 23). One problem with voluntary participation, however, is that it leads to non-random samples (Burns, 2000). Nevertheless, voluntary participation was an advantage in my study since taking part

in the listening sessions required commitment on behalf of the students. Further, the most cited condition for deliberate practice, as mentioned previously, is motivation, which is likely to happen when students volunteer to be involved. Informed consent ensures, alongside voluntary participation, the protection of participants‟ identities as well as their privacy, and not being deceived about the nature of the study (Rallis and Rossman, 2009).

3.3.3 Right to Privacy: Anonymity & Confidentiality

Anonymity means that participants remain unidentified; nameless (Berg, 2007). In essence, anonymity entails that “information provided by participants should in no way reveal their identity” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 91). Not using the names of participants or any other personal identification means are the principal way to ensure anonymity (ibid). In my case, the data was analysed anonymously. I used numbers to identify test and questionnaire results, rather than names, which gives no indication of the students. The use of numbers guarantees privacy to the participant, regardless of the sensitivity of the information provided (ibid). As for the qualitative data, I used pseudonyms to ensure anonymity.

Another way to protect the participants‟ right to privacy is via “the promise of confidentiality” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 92). Confidentiality means “not disclosing information from a participant in any way that might identify that individual or that might enable the individual to be traced” (ibid). In other words, even though the researchers can identify the individuals who provided the information, they avoid discussing this with others and do not make the information public. The researchers are expected to make this position clear to the participants at the data collection stage. There is some overlap between anonymity and confidentiality, particularly in the means to ensure each. For example, deleting names or any other means of identification can be applied to ensure both confidentiality and anonymity.