Research Project Ethics

When starting to think about the ethical considerations of my research project I found reading 3 in the ethics reader particularly useful. Although I am not a full time teacher I will be carrying out interviews and surveys in several vocational colleges so lots of the information was relevant.

The first thing I will seek before conducting my research is 'voluntary informed consent'. I think the most important thing here is transparency. I will inform all participants what the inquiry is about, what my aims and objectives are, any detriment that may arise for them as a result of taking part, and how and where the information will be used. Hopefully by doing this I will not have any problems getting participants. Luckily my project doesn't involve anyone under the age of eighteen which makes obtaining consent much easier but still crucial.

The people I interview I will give a full list of questions in advance so they can veto any they think are inappropriate and do not want to answer. I will give them a copy of the transcript afterwards and give them the opportunity to clarify or remove information. I will also make sure I will inform them of any previously unforeseen issues that have arisen that could be detrimental to them.

I will make it very clear that all participants are free to withdraw their consent at any point. I will not put any pressure on them to stay involved. Hopefully if I have been transparent enough from the outset about the purpose and outcome of the research then this won't happen.

I am going to ensure the anonymity of all the people involved in the research and of the colleges themselves. Firstly I don't think the identities of the colleges or people will have an impact the findings of the research and secondly I intend to survey students who I believe will give more honest answers about their training if they know there is no way their answers can be traced back to them (particularly if want they want to say is something bad).

Importantly I want to make clear that when obtaining informed consent form the students that it is one hundred percent 'voluntary'. I want to make sure they in no way feel pressure from me or more importantly from their head teacher to be involved. It is important to be aware of the unbalanced power in this situation, where the teacher can significantly impact the success of the student. They must be told that nothing bad will happen to them if they do not become involved. I think that anonymity will also help here because it makes it impossible to tell who has answered and who hasn't. I intend to get consent from the head teacher to survey the students (with them acting as Gatekeeper) but I then intend to get individual consent from each student as well.

In my last blog I mentioned the word 'balance' and it is my intention within this research project to balance out any ethical conflicts that may occur between the 'importance and rights of the individuals involved' (ethics reader, 2010). Equal consideration must be given to the needs of all participants. I should not assume just because it is something I want to know that others should have to help me. I also should not assume that because a piece of information is useful to me that it is justifiable to use it. I intend to make everyone involved aware of these possible conflicts and they will therefore have the choice to proceed or not.

One of the conflicts of interest I can see already is as follows. There is no direct benefit for the graduating students who help me. If the aim of my project is to improve training in musical theatre then this could actually have a negative impact on these students' careers. Their training is over but future generations, and their direct competition, will hopefully be trained better and therefore will be better able to get the already scarce jobs. In helping me the students will be helping their competition. I will make the students aware of this but hopefully they will also see that better training will improve the industry as a whole. An industry that they love and that they want to thrive. Hopefully they will also see that change takes time so perhaps the direct impact on them will be less than initially thought.

Another conflict may be that the information the graduating students provide may conflict with the interests of the college. If a student were to say detrimental things about the training it could affect others' opinions of the college. Hopefully keeping all information anonymous will prevent this but there is the risk that the students will talk about what they said in their surveys. I think it also important therefore to make them aware of why the information should kept anonymous. I think also that by making the various colleges aware of the benefits they could receive from the completion of the project (for example, a stronger consensus on what is required of a musical theatre performer) they may decide that they outweigh any negative possibilities. Again, transparency.

I think finally it is worth mentioning reliability of information. It is important not to 'falsify, sensationalise or distort findings'. As a general rule all information that is gathered should be included. Evidence should not be removed because it doesn't match your desired pattern. Similarly something shouldn't be quoted out of context or highlighted if it goes against the general trend. However, it is important to consider whether it is justifiable to include information that is clearly detrimental to participants even if it is vital for the project. I want to make sure at the very least that i am not directly harming any of participants. So once again I will be using reasoned consideration to achieve a balance between conflicting agendas.