Principal 1 Principal 2 Principal 3 Principal 4 Principal 5 Type of
3.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
As mentioned in section 3.2 the purpose of this study was to analyse the changes in the management practices of school principals after participating in the IP implementation with their teachers and SGB members. This analysis was done by examining their views and experiences through interviews. SGB members, key teachers and non-key teachers were interviewed in order to corroborate the information given by the principals about changes in their management activities, the way they related with their teachers and SGB members as well as parents. The role players were therefore expected to talk about each other, which brought some level of discomfort and reluctance on the part of all the participants. Such reluctance and discomfort made it necessary to assure the respondents about confidentiality and other ethical considerations. This section discusses the ethical considerations that had to be observed in this study.
Getliffe (1998) points out that in any study involving human subjects there are ethical issues that must be considered. According to Leedy and Ormrod (2005), Bogdan and Biklen (1982), and Punch (1994), a common practice is to present an informed consent form that describes the nature of the research project as well as the nature of one’s participation in it. The subject’s signature on this form is taken as evidence of informed consent. Such a form should contain the following information:
• A brief description of the nature of the study
• A description of what participation will involve, in terms of activities and duration
• A statement indicating that participation is voluntary and can be terminated
at any time without penalty
• The guarantee that all responses will remain confidential and anonymous
• The researcher’s name, plus information about how the researcher can be contacted
• An offer to provide detailed information about the study (e.g. a summary of findings) upon its completion.
Although there was no informed consent form signed most of the points referred to above were dealt with as will be discussed in the following sections.
3.6.1 Informed Consent
In seeking permission to enter the site, most researchers have to assure participants of confidentiality and anonymity. In addition, researchers have to inform each participant about the purpose for which the data will be used. This helps the participants to make informed decisions before they consent to participate in the study and give any information (McMillan & Schumacher, 2001). The participants should also be told that, if they agree to participate, they have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Any participation in a study should be strictly voluntary (Leedy &
Ormrod, 2005; McMillan & Schumacher, 2001; Bless & Higson-Smith (1995) and both positive and negative aspects or consequences must be explained. This should include describing what specific activities their participation will involve, that is, to give them sufficient information to make a reasonable, informed judgment about whether they wish to participate (Punch, 1994). In this study, during my first visit to each school, the first thing I did was to introduce myself, describe the nature and purpose of the study and the purpose for which the data would be used. I also presented a letter to the principal from the ECDE granting me permission to conduct the study in the schools. The letter was meant to convince the principal, the SGB members and the teachers to participate in the research activities. It was clearly explained to the principal that participation in the study was voluntary and it was emphasised to him or her that s/he should inform teachers likewise. Although with one principal it proved to be difficult to secure an interview, all principals agreed to the research being conducted in their schools. The fact that each participant was not
forced to participate in the study was repeated during the actual interview and no participant seemed desirous of withdrawing.
3.6.2 Confidentiality and Anonymity
According to Knapp (1998: 34) the concepts of anonymity and confidentiality are associated with participants’ right to privacy. In either case, the object is to ensure that the participants’ identities are not linked to their responses. The subjects’ identities should be protected so that the information collected does not embarrass or harm them in any way. Anonymity should extend not only to writing, but also to verbal reporting of information that the researcher has learned through observation (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982; Punch, 1994).
In this study I asked for permission from all the principals and teachers to use a tape recorder to record the interview and I explained the importance of this. I followed this with a declaration that this information was to be kept anonymous and confidential and that the name was being used for the sake of being able to make a follow up if and when the need arose. It also explained that tape recording saves time and ensures continuity and flow of the interview. In addition, I made the respondents aware that if I write the responses, it may result in potential bias as I may unconsciously emphasise responses that agree with my expectations and fail to note those that do not (Cohen &
Manion, 1994).
In addition, I explained that the type of research approach used for the study requires that data should be produced verbatim. Also, the manner in which the interviews were conducted was important, stressing the dialogue form to appear in the transcriptions.
I assured the respondents of preserving their anonymity, maintaining confidentiality of data and using the research for the intended purpose as suggested by Merriman (1988), and Bless and Higson-Smith (1995). To show that I was concerned about anonymity and confidentiality, I gave each participant a code number and then labelled any written documents with that number rather than with the person’s name as suggested by Leedy and Ormrod (2005), and Bogdan and Biklen (1982), so that people could not be recognised.
3.6.3 The issues of trustworthiness, soundness and authenticity.
In any research undertaking it is important to determine the accuracy of the results.
Unlike quantitative research in which issues of validity and reliability are addressed under clear topics such as validity and reliability, in qualitative research there is no consensus on such topics (Konyana, 2001).
While qualitative researchers started by using the traditional concepts of validity and reliability, recently they have developed their own language with concepts such as trustworthiness, soundness and authenticity to justify the interpretation and conclusions of the research (Konyana, 2001). Authenticity is the faithful reconstruction of participants’ multiple views (McMillan & Schumacher, 2001). An attempt was made to reconstruct the participants’ multiple views in the data analysis.