The ethics and implications of conducting research are taken very seriously by York St. John University and they have a rigorous scrutiny procedure to gain ethical clearance for any research to be undertaken by their staff and students. Here you can see how your data will be collected and used during this outdoor education research project.
A copy of the research ethics application for this research is available by contacting me. This details the considerations and implications for this research but I have tried to provide a summary of the considerations and mitigation below;
In this research the ethical issues are minimal but I will;
- Be open and upfront about what I’m asking participants to do
- Be open and upfront about how I’m going to store and use their data
- Seek advise in the first instance from the Research Supervisor should any other ethical issues arise
Your Consent:
I need the consent of any participants and;
- I will bring consent forms to all face to face meetings where data will be collected
- participation in the online questionnaire indicates your consent to use your anonymised data
- for phone interviews I will seek your verbal consent to use your anonymised data
Initial written/ email contact with headteachers will make it clear that;
- participation in the research will be entirely voluntary
- data will be anonymised
- they can withdraw at any time
- the involvement of their staff (teachers) is also voluntary
- in the case of ‘exemplar’ case studies the head teacher can choose to allow the naming of the school or to keep it anonymous
Furthermore, it shall be made clear in writing (and verbally in face-to-face contact scenarios) to individual teachers and participants in focus groups that;
- participation in the research will be entirely voluntary
- data will be anonymised
- they can withdraw at any time
- other than the sharing of knowledge, the only tangible benefit to them will be snacks/ light refreshments during focus groups
Anonymising Data:
The research does not require or seek for the data to be tracked to any individual and we will protect your data and identity as follows:
- Individual identifiers are only used on the consent form
- The data itself is anonymised and should not be traceable to any individual
- Online data collection does not record the IP address of the individual
If you have any questions please just get in touch.