Research ethics are a mechanism built into the research practice to protect the people and institution from which information or data is gathered. Ethical clearance was requested and granted by the university (see Appendix A:
2020/04/08/06462677/10/AM). Considering that schools are juristic persons, and principal have private lives, it is important to build in safety measures to preserve their integrity. The people volunteering the information must be protected in terms of their safety and their identity. Ethical considerations bind the researcher to honour his or her obligations to the participants.
3.4.1 Permission to conduct Research
Permission to conduct the research was sought from the district, circuit and principals and those that were involved in supplying the information. Permission was requested from and granted by the District (see Appendices B and C). Permission was also sought from and granted by the circuit manager (see Appendices D and E). Permission for entry into the research site and the cooperation of the participants was included in the request.
3.4.2 Voluntary Participation and Informed Consent
The participants who get involved in the research should do so voluntarily without being coerced but should be fully informed of the research and its aims (see Appendix F). This was made clear at the onset that participants are under no obligation to participate if they do not feel comfortable. Cohen et al. (2000:51) stated that the principle of consent arises from the participants’ right to freedom and self- determination.
Informed consent is achieved when participants know what they are getting themselves into, and that they can withdraw their participation in the study at any time without prejudice. McMillan and Schumacher (2010:118) stated that consent is usually obtained by asking subjects to sign a form that indicates that they have understood why they participate in the study and consented to participate. A consent form was
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given to the participants to sign prior to their participation in the study (see Appendix G).
3.4.3 Anonymity and Confidentiality
The obligation to protect the anonymity of research participants and to keep research data must be fulfilled at all costs (Cohen et al., 2000). All reasonable measures were taken to protect the participants from easy identification through any means associated with their participation in the study. In this research, the participants were school principals. Because a face-to-face interview was used, there is no way they can be anonymous to the researcher. The research report should not give away the identity of the principal or the school from which the data were obtained. In order to not disclose the identity of participants, McMillan and Schumacher (2010:339) recommend that the setting and the participants should not be identifiable in print.
They recommend that code names be allocated to people and places to be visited or interviewed. They also recommend that the participants be afforded the opportunity to review the report before it is finalised. This is to ensure that the participants agree with and validate the final research. It ensures that the participants can be assured that any information provided has been correctly captured and represented, and their identity is protected.
3.4.4 Privacy
According to Cohen et al. (2000:61) privacy is looked at from these three angles: the sensitivity of the information being given; the setting being observed and the dissemination of information. Cohen et al. (date 2000) caution that, if the information is more sensitive and personal, and the setting is more private, more safeguards should be built-in to protect the privacy of the participants. Participants and their schools should not be easily inferred in the study and their personal and private experiences and attributes should not give away their identities. Participants should feel guaranteed that none of their personal information or attributes is harmed by their participation in the research. Safeguards have been built in to ensure that any person not connected with the study will infer the identity of the school from the data. The privacy of participants was protected by using pseudonyms instead of the name of the school or the name of the participant.
58 3.5 SUMMARY
This chapter described the research design that was followed to collect data to answer the research question satisfactorily. The data generating procedures were explained.
The process and steps followed in transforming the data into information upon which explanation of the research question can be made were also dealt with. The steps followed in ensuring the trustworthiness of the findings of the study was also dealt with.
Ethical considerations that govern qualitative research were also dealt with to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of participants. The next chapter presents the analysis of data analysis and the findings supported by verbatim quotes.
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CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 4.1 INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter described the methods adopted in data collection. Data was collected through in-depth interviews conducted at the natural site of the participants.
The collected data was exposed to an open coding approach, which was employed to organise the data into codes and categories, and into themes and sub-themes.
In this chapter the sites visited are briefly described to give a rich background; the participants and their personal and professional traits are also discussed. The themes, together with the associated sub-themes that emerged from the interviews are tabulated and discussed. Factors which enhance the principals’ instructional leadership in improving school performance; and those that constrain the instructional leadership of the principal are explained in a focused manner.
The analysed data explained in this chapter was gathered through in-depth interviews with seven principals in the Bohlabela District, Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.
Bohlabela District is found in Bushbuckridge Municipality, which has been declared a Comprehensive Reconstruction and Development Programme municipality. This municipality is plagued by massive unemployment and high levels of poverty. The local communities sustain themselves through subsistence farming during summer and street vending of fruit and vegetables. The municipality forms the western border of the Kruger National Park.