TRANSFERABILITY)
4.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Research with children is always ethically and legally complex, and research on sensitive issues such as poverty and wealth with children considered potentially vulnerable as a result of being in a relatively lower socioeconomic situation is even more problematic. Thus, a great number of
considerations needed to be taken into account (Sutton, 2009; Wassenaar, 2006). This study was reviewed and fully approved by an ethics committee at the University of KwaZulu Natal‟s Faculty of Humanities (Ethical Clearance number: HSS/0176/011M).
Gatekeepers and Parental Informed Consent
In order to protect the autonomy of the children in this study a number of precautions and procedures were put in place. Firstly permission to gain access to the school pupils and facilities was sought from the school by approaching the principal and fully explaining the purpose of the study and the practicalities of data collection, both in writing and verbally (see Appendix 1:
Letter of Permission to School).
Once permission from the school had been obtained, letters were sent home with the pupils to obtain informed consent from the children‟s parents or legal guardians. These letters (see Appendix 2: Parental Consent Letters) fully explained and described the purpose of the research and how it would be conducted. Given that the majority of the pupils from this school are first language isiZulu speakers, this parental consent letter was translated into isiZulu, and both English and isiZulu copies of the consent form were given to all potential participants. No deception was used in this study at all, and parents were provided with the contact numbers of the researcher and her supervisor for any queries or questions, as well as the contact details of the Ethics Committee should they have any complaints or concerns about the nature of the tasks, treatment of the children, or any further ethical issues in this study. In these letters the parents were also requested to speak to their children about the study and discuss whether their child would like to participate prior to signing the informed consent forms. In this way the parents or legal guardians were requested to start the initial discussions with the children about the study, thus allowing the child to be involved in the parental consent process and respecting their autonomy from the start. Children whose parents consented to their participation returned these letters to their class teachers. The children were asked to bring their signed parental consent forms with them on the day of data collection, and these were collected by the researcher at the start of the session.
Informed Assent from the Children
Verbal assent to participate in this study was obtained from the children on the day of data collection. The researcher explained that the children would not be individually called on to participate or directly questioned by the researcher in the activities or discussions, but that they were encouraged to freely discuss the topic and volunteer information as they felt comfortable
at their own will. Further, since children can often consent to involvement in something as a result of encouragement from adults or simply because their peers are consenting (Horgan, 2009), in order to maintain respect for the children‟s autonomy the children were informed that they may talk as much or as little as they like in the discussions. In addition they were informed that, should they no longer feel comfortable participating during the discussions or activities, they would not be forced to participate, and may excuse themselves from the focus groups at any time or may simply sit and listen to the discussions without participating. This ensured participants‟ autonomy in deciding to take part in this study and allowed them to freely withdraw or choose not to participate in the activities at any time they wish.
Sensitivity of the Research Topic and Vulnerability
Since socioeconomic circumstance is a particularly sensitive topic that can result in stigma and social discrimination, much care and sensitivity had to be taken in managing the research process (Sutton, 2009). It is important to emphasize that the purpose of the study was to gain insight into children‟s understandings and perspectives (not their personal experiences or lives) of socioeconomic status and income inequality without labelling or stigmatizing the children.
During the groups children were not identified as „poor‟ or „rich‟, nor were questions raised concerning the children‟s own socioeconomic circumstances, experiences or any related factors (Sutton, 2009). Further, all questions and instructions were presented in the third person plural (i.e. using the term „people‟ in general) to ensure that the children did not feel that they were being asked to talk about their own experiences/life circumstances directly. However, the children were not explicitly discouraged from offering information from their own lives if they felt comfortable to do so.
Although the school can be considered as a relatively lower socioeconomic school compared to others in the area, this was in no way brought to the children‟s attention. In addition, it is unlikely that the content of the discussions or reasons for which their school specifically was selected for this type of study would be questioned by the children as university students from the School of Psychology regularly visit their school to teach Life Orientation classes as part of a service-learning course (which involve similar types of discussions in small group settings, not much unlike the focus group and poster drawing activity this study involved).
Confidentiality and Anonymity
Although focus groups present complications concerning confidentiality (especially with children), the children were briefed about confidentiality risks at the start of the focus group and encouraged to maintain confidentiality and, at the least, to be sensitive in discussing the focus groups with others. The area in which the study was conducted was also located in a private,
quiet area of the school in which there were few distractions or interruptions from outside noise and in which confidentiality during data collection could be restricted to those participating in the study. Although complete anonymity was not possible during data collection as the researcher, teachers and the children‟s peers knew who had participated in the study, during transcription and in the research report itself the children‟s names were not used, but rather they are referred to as „child 1; 2 etc‟. Confidentiality and anonymity will be maintained by ensuring that signed informed consent forms are stored by the researcher and are not accessible to anyone apart from the researcher and her supervisor. All the consent forms from the study will be kept by the researcher for a period of five years and will then be destroyed via shredder.
Participants and parents/legal guardians were told in the informed consent form that the data may be used for future research, but that since it requires no personal information and the informed consent forms would be destroyed, no information will be traced back to them.
Research Benefits
Although there are no substantial long-term benefits for the children participating in this study, the children are likely to have found the experience enjoyable as it allowed them to freely and openly discuss a prominent issue in society. As discussed in the literature review, the
importance of conducting child-focused participatory research where children are given the opportunities to express their views and ideas on pertinent issues, particularly in South Africa, has received growing support in light of the argument that children are important and competent social actors and are worthy of study in their own right (Camfield & Tafere, 2009; McDonald, 2009; Noble et al., 2006; Sutton, 2009). In this way, this study provided the children with an opportunity to express their views and understandings of socioeconomic status and income inequality, and thus potentially aided in developing a greater understanding of the meaning and interpretations they give to social phenomena and issues (McDonald, 2009; Sutton, 2009).
Further, this study compliments and contributes to current research on children and socioeconomic circumstances as it provides a unique insight into South African children‟s understandings and perceptions of socioeconomic status and income inequality by using the framework of the sociocultural approach to illustrate how these understandings and perceptions reflect the contextual, social and interpersonal factors in which children‟s thinking occurs.