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Chapter Three – Research methods and their use - Page 90
applied for registration for the degree of PhD at AUT, which required me to make a
formal draft proposal of the research, and once that was accepted, to apply for ethical
approval from AUTEC (AUT Ethics Committee), which was granted (See Appendix
One for the documents relating to these steps). Throughout this time, I had been
working with supervision from Steve on an informal basis. With the acceptance of my
draft proposal and the granting of ethical approval, that supervision arrangement
became formal. Hence, although the research had an informal beginning, I sought at all
times to obtain appropriate approval and supervision until that beginning was
formalised.
Regarding the process of obtaining consent from the participants for the research to take
place, I explained the research to, and obtained consent from, my teaching colleague
before we began the semester’s teaching. I then presented and explained the project to
participants on the first occasion that we met each of them during the semester (that is,
to most of the group at the first session, and to three others as they came variously for
the first time for them, two at the second meeting of the course and one at the third
meeting), and asked each of them for their consent to take part and for the teaching to be
recorded (See Appendix One for a letter summarising this presentation). The group
were given opportunities to ask questions, and to withdraw from the project if they did
not wish to take part. 1 Hence, the majority of the participants, i.e. those people present
on the first occasion, heard the explanation and request three times. The participants
returned signed forms of consent (see Appendix One). I then tape-recorded the semester
1 In a project allied to the study (i.e. data recorded but subsequently not included in the thesis because of a
change of emphasis), the study of a focus group conducted with people who had attended a reading group
on the works of Sigmund Freud, I encountered one cohort where almost all readily consented to take part
but where one member objected to the execution of the research. In that case, I withdrew from that group
after thanking them for their consideration and willingness to take part. I met with the person who had
objected, and was able to address his concerns about my work. Subsequently, I engaged with a second
cohort who had undertaken the same reading group, and with their informed and unanimous consent
conducted a focus group with them. I could not have continued with this study and the recording if I had
not had appropriate consent.