CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.5 Ethical issues
Bertram and Christiansen (2014) explained ethics as norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in research. Research ethics involve specific requirements in relation to daily work, the protection of the dignity of the research subjects, and the publication of the information in the research (Morley, Floridi, Kinsey and Elhalal, 2019). Ethics are sets of principles, documented or verbal, that guide the activities of the researchers and the participants in the process of conducting research. In this study, several measures and considerations were put in place to ensure that the necessary ethical procedures for this qualitative research were
duly followed and adhered to. Formal permission was sought from all the necessary gatekeepers and informed consent was sought from the participants. In addition, the three ethical principles that a researcher needs to follow in conducting research, according to Morley, Floridi, Kinsey and Elhalal (2019) as well as Floridi and Cowls (2019) — autonomy, non-maleficence and beneficence — were duly adhered to.
These principles are explained below.
4.5.1 Permission to conduct the research
Singh and Wassenaar (2016) stated that the South African Research Ethics Committee and the various university ethics committees require researchers to consult the community and to obtain formal, documented permission from all the necessary gatekeepers before proceeding with research. A gatekeeper is explained as a person or an institution that stands in-between the researcher and the prospective participants (Singh & Wassenaar, 2016). Ethical clearance to begin this study was obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal Research Ethics Committee before proceeding with any research that involved participants (see Appendix A). Gatekeeper permission for this study was then obtained from the principals of each of the ECCE centres at which research for this study was conducted (see Appendices B and C).
Similarly, Tracy (2019) stated that a researcher must obtain permission from the study participants before embarking on data generation. The researcher visited the educators at the ECCE centres to establish a cordial relationship with them, and briefed them on the purpose of the research study. Thereafter, ten interested ECCE educators who volunteered to participate in the research work were chosen interviewed, after which six were selected. The interested participants were provided with informed consent letters (see Appendices D–I), which they willingly signed before becoming involved in the research. They were assured of their freedom to withdraw from the study at any time should they not feel comfortable, without any penalties or adverse consequence.
4.5.2 Autonomy/informed consent
Autonomy implies that any person or institution involved in the study must be a willing participant who participates voluntarily in the study, whose rights are respected and protected, and who must have the freedom to withdraw at any time should he or she feel uncomfortable about participating in the study. A researcher must get the formal consent of every person or institution who participates in the study (Morley, Floridi, Kinsey & Elhalal, 2019), and this needs to be informed consent. Informed consent in research is a mechanism employed to ensure that the prospective participants understand their expectation in the research so that they can voluntarily make a conscious decision to participate (Tracy, 2019). Participants’ informed consent and full participation in any research is possible only if the researcher provides a detailed and comprehensive explanation of the purpose of the study, the extent of the study, and the implications of their involvement (Manti, & Licari, 2018).
Thus, all the participants in this research — the ECCE educators who were initially visited, and the ones who were selected to be interviewed — were duly informed about the purpose of the research, after which their consent was sought in writing and verbally (see Appendices D–I). Their principals were also duly informed, in order to gain informed institutional consent (see Appendices B and C). The participants’ autonomy was therefore acknowledged as a right to be respected (Manti, & Licari, 2018).
4.5.3 Non-maleficence
The principle of non-maleficence requires doing no harm to the research participants and is one of the most important ethical principles in research, which every researcher must strictly adhere to (Tracy, 2019). The principle of non-maleficence entails that the researcher ensures the participants’ privacy, dignity, and anonymity, in order to prevent any emotional, social, or physical harm, and that the researcher ensures the confidentiality of the participants’ information ((Morley, Floridi, Kinsey, & Elhalal, 2019; Floridi, & Cowls, 2019). Non-maleficence was observed in this research by making sure that the participants were well informed about the nature and purpose of the study, and by assuring them of their anonymity, their privacy, and the
confidentiality of their information. The researcher did not reveal the participants’ real names or divulge any of their personal information to the public, and they were referred to using codes instead (Participant A, Participant B, etc.). In additional, to ensure the anonymity of the research setting, the two ECCE centres were given pseudonyms:
Golden Kiddies and Little Angels. The participants understood that they were free to withdraw at any time should they feel uncomfortable continuing with the study. The devices used for audio recording the interviews were password protected to ensure the confidentiality of the interview information. Copies of the completed interview transcripts, the memory stick on which the interviews were stored, the permission letters, and other salient information pertaining to this study and the participants will be stored in a locked cupboard in the researcher’s supervisor’s office for a period of five years, after which it will be shredded and burnt.
4.5.4 Beneficence
The final principle, beneficence, demands that a researcher tailors his or her research towards the participants’ interest. The reason for the involvement of the participants and the way in which the research will promote and enhance their quality of life should be the focus of the researcher (Das & Sil, 2017). Beneficence involves ensuring that the research is of benefit, either directly to the research participants, or more broadly to other researchers or to society. The purpose of the research was to explore the use of various musical rhymes in order to positively impact ECCE children’ acquisition of language and communication skills. The research findings will therefore benefit the ECCE educators, as they will gain information on the importance of the use of music in the learning environment, and on the different musical rhymes suitable for teaching language and communication skills to ECCE children.
4.5.5 Feedback to the participants
Thomas (2017) argued that interview transcripts should be shown to the participants to enable them to check the transcripts for accuracy to ascertain whether it accurately reflects their views and the information they intended to share. This feedback to the
participants is known as member checking, and it increases the credibility and rigour of the research.
Birt, Scott, Cavers, Campbell, & Walter (2016, p. 1802) confirmed that “offering results acknowledges the ethical principle of respect for persons, avoids treating research participants as a means to an end and may have direct positive consequences for the participant and indirect benefits to research as a whole”. Participants feedback also known as member checking or participants validation is a procedure for ensuring the trustworthiness of the research result (Birt, Scott, Cavers, Campbell, & Walter, 2016). Candela (2019) reported that member checking could cause harm to the participant thus, she cautioned that researchers that cannot omit member checking should institute it judiciously