UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

2009

EPSE: 595 PortfolioInterpretive and Critical Research

Kavita V. Kamat

E P S E : 5 9 5 I N T R O D U C T I O N T O Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

Introduction

The picture below metaphorically represents my learning experience in this course. Each exercise that I engaged in provided me an opportunity to not only understand the specific method but to also reflect on the experience of using it. It was not important what data I arrived at, but the process that led me to it.

This portfolio represents my efforts and struggles to understand and engage with different ideas, methods and issues related to interpretive and critical research.

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Table of Contents

Epistemological stanceResearch Questions

Participant ObservationInterviewArtefacts

Coding, analysing and interpreting dataEthics

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My Epistemological Stance

My area of research interest is working with diverse families with children with special needs. More

specifically, I am interested in parent training and development of intervention strategies that are best

suited to the family and result in positive outcomes for the child. My interest in this topic stems from my

experience of working with families for over a decade. Looking for causal relationships between

intervention and outcomes is an objectivist way of looking at reality. Objectivism subscribes to the

doctrine of ontological realism, that there exists a world of objective reality that is independent of

consciousness and experience and has a determinate nature that can be discovered. Research from an

objectivist standpoint uses the scientific method to ‘discover’ this truth.

My belief is that there exists a truth (the most effective way of addressing problem behaviour) and if I

use the appropriate strategy I will be able to get to it resulting in an effective change in behaviour. I can

choose to be creative and develop a new strategy and test its effectiveness or I can replicate an

intervention used by a previous researcher for a similar category of children or a new category of

children and examine its effectiveness.

I want to pursue research that contributes to the body of knowledge on effective intervention strategies

with ethnically diverse families with children with disability. Scientific method will allow me to

investigate if there is a functional relationship between the intervention and the change in the child’s

behaviour in the context of the child’s home. The effectiveness of the study can only be established by

using a research design which demonstrates that change in behaviour occurred as a result of intervention

and is not as function of other extraneous variables. The professional code of ethics I follow requires me

to develop intervention strategies that have been empirically verified to be effective. My

epistemological stance is clearly one of a positivist.

However, this was not the area which caused the conflict in epistemological stances in my mind. It was

my interest in working and training families from diverse backgrounds alongside working with their

child with disability that got me questioning my own assumptions of how knowledge is created. I

wanted to understand how different families view disability and how that effects their decisions around

care and support for their child and their vision for their child’s future. This information is part of the

ecological assessment of the child’s family context, the context in which I intend to do my research. I

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struggled with the notion that this represented inconsistency in epistemological stances. However, as I

further reflected on this and read other studies in the field of positive behaviour support I realised that

the core of what I want to do is driven by an objectivist epistemology. Objectivism is not synonymous

with radical behaviourism and permits the possibility that cognitive processes are relevant of discerning

causal relationships. The pursuit of understanding the family context (parenting practices, cultural

perceptions and attitudes) is not just understand it but to look for patterns that result in specific

observable behaviours towards their child with disability. In doing so, I was convinced that I was

pursuing causal relationships between attitudes/beliefs of parents and their parenting practices. This

clearly, falls within the realm of a positivist epistemology.

I have in the past been drawn to constructionism as an epistemological belief without really being

conscious of it at that time. The notion that human beings do not discover knowledge but construct it is

at the basis of this epistemology. We create meaning to make sense of our experiences in the form of

concepts, constructs, schemes etc and we continuously examine these in the light of new experiences.

This meaning is further not constructed in isolation but in concert with shared understandings, practices,

language and so forth.

Going back to what I had initially expressed as an area of interest. Different families have different

attitudes and perceptions about disability based on what they have culturally inherited. For example in

India, particularly among the Hindus one of the most strongly held cultural belief when a child with

disability is born is that the parent/parents must have done something terrible in their previous life. As a

researcher a mere understanding of parents perceptions is not sufficient. It is equally important to

recognise some of the limiting aspects of cultural inheritance. In this example the belief that the child

with disability is an outcome of wrong deeds in ones previous life breeds an element of passivity.

Parents believe it to be their fate or karma something that is given, constant and cannot be changed.

Recognising, that socially constructed meaning is not always conscious, positive and has multiple

consequences is an important place to begin. In this context cultural belief often denies children with

disability equity, harbours other modes of injustice and leaves no hope for them to participate in the

community. This understanding of the social reality got me to question it and develop a more critical

perspective of this social reality. Friere describes the concept of critical thinking as “thinking which

discerns an indivisible solidarity between the world and men, perceiving reality as process and

transformation rather than a static reality.” I subscribed to what Friere describes as the praxis -

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‘reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it’. It is this praxis that develops critical

consciousness which leads to action. Through such action people cease to see their situation as a static

reality but one that is susceptible to transformation. Friere rejected the notion that reality is simply

objective datum and spoke of the unity between reality and consciousness thus rejecting the objectivism

and embracing the constructivist epistemology.

In 1994 I undertook research in Mumbai following my Masters Degree in Social Work. To give you a

brief background: As part of my filed work I had spent many days working with families in the slums of

Mumbai particularly after the 1992 riots. I was disturbed listening to the stories I heard from the families

about their health conditions, access to resources and increasing incidents of Malaria in their family. I

decided to understand this further. The broad objectives of my research were: How are people

responding to the Malaria epidemic? What are their cultural beliefs associated with the aetiology of

Malaria and how it is transmitted? Are there any variations in people’s response and cultural beliefs

among three clearly marked geographically areas within the region (slums, traditional villages, and high

income apartments). The purpose of my research was to understand the situation and possibly inform

malaria prevention programs undertaken by the government. I believed that an without understanding of

the local aetiology of malaria and their beliefs around health seeking behaviours designing a malaria

prevention program based on the bio medical model may not be effective. This made a strong case for

me to pursue research under the realm of constructionism to contribute to the body of knowledge that

can inform efforts by public health officials in prevention, treatment and control of communicable

diseases.

In retrospect at the time I developed my research I made a distinction only at the level of methods

classifying my study as a “Qualitative Study”. I did not give much thought to what epistemological

belief was guiding my research. I learned the local language (Marathi) and conducted field-work for 6

months. Preliminary observation, field notes and informal interviews with the local people helped me

identify key informants who played a key role in helping me identify participants. I conducted semi

structured interview. Based on the data I got from the first few participants I expanded the scope of the

study to include not only families but also pharmacies, and local private un-licensed medical practioners

that contributed significantly to the local peoples understanding of Malaria. I spent over a month inside a

pharmacy observing, helping and taking notes on the interactions between the pharmacy attendant and

the customer.

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My study of 1994 was informed by the constructivist epistemology as the underlying epistemological

belief and ethnography as the methodology.

I struggled with this assignment. Philosophy has never held my interest and I found it hard to read,

understand integrate my thoughts and really take a stand on how I believe knowledge is created. There

was a conflict within me between the demands of my profession which I hope to continue and my own

interests as an individual. By engaging in the act of reflecting, writing and exploring it further from an

epistemological point of view I have been able to reflect on my epistemological stance today and what it

was when I last did a research project more than 14 years ago. Why did I make the shift? The past few

years have made me see the direct effect of implementing empirically validated intervention strategies

on the behaviour of a child with disability and this I think has had a profound influence on me and the

way I have come to understand knowledge.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Research Questions in an interpretive tradition:

I find it very interesting that each family understands disability differently and their understanding forms the basis of how they relate to their social world. Interactions with these families have triggered my interest in understanding this phenomenon further. I believe that interpretive research in this field is important in order to inform intervention research based on the positivist epistemology.

1. What are the cultural perceptions of personhood?

2. What constitutes disability for the family and how does it relate to their perception of personhood?

3. What is the everyday lived experience of a family with a child with disability? How do cultural

beliefs about disability affect relationships within the family and in the social context

4. What factors do families consider when they plan for their child’s future?

5. How do cultural beliefs about disability affect a family’s ability to advocate for their child?

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Concept Map

I attempted to map out the topic of my interest and speculated about some possible relationships. Some of these relationships were based on my observations and experience but they were still assumptions. Being a visual learner myself I really like the concept map as a tool. I found it very useful to visualise

the research project. It helped me become clearer on what to focus on and provided me with some general ideas on how to go about it.

Siblings Marital

Extended family

Professionals Community

Social network

Sense of what is normal Beliefs

Cause

Development

Coping

Coping strategies

New perspectives future goals

Education Expectations

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Cultural perceptions of personhood

Cultural perceptions of disability

Family

Relationships

From the epistemological stance of a positivist the research question I would ask would be:

Is there a functional relationship between implementation of a positive behaviour support plan and

decrease in problem behaviour?

Another way of wording it would be by proposing a relationship between the variable and indicating the

anticipated outcome

If the positive behaviour plan is implemented by the family then there will be decrease in problem

behaviours of the child with disability in the family.

(I added this although this was not part of the assignment as these are the kind of questions that will guide my research. It also provides a visual distinction between research questions that fall under the

two epistemologies Objectivism and Social Constructionism )

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Participant Observation

Children’s Ikea

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I conducted participant observation in the ‘Children’s IKEA’ section located immediately to the right

when you enter the store from the West entrance. I had not been to the section for over three years

although I have passed it several times. I had few tentative questions that could help guide my

observations. However, I was also conscious to have an open and flexible mind. I did not want to make

the pursuit of the observation a search for answers to the questions I had. I was not fully convinced that I

will able to observe any of them but it was sufficient for me to begin. While I was driving to the place, I

was a bit nervous as well. I was not sure what I should say if an IKEA staff asked me what I was doing

spending over two hours in the area. I convinced myself that it was a public space and I had nothing to

worry but I also prepared an answer in-case I was questioned.

Some general questions I had to give me an orientation included: What is the ethnic composition of

people who come to this section? How do children interact with the toys and other children in the area?

And how do children facilitate interaction between parents?

The Children’s IKEA is a large area which displays children’s furniture, linen, accessories and toys.

(See pictures on page 2, 9 and 10).The section has an open layout but the items are displayed in such a

manner that there are two paths to enter the area. Between the two paths there is a display of children’s

organisers. Near the right entrance to the section there are three children’s bedroom completely

decorated with IKEA furniture and accessories. All rooms open to the central area of the children’s

section allowing people to walk in and out without having to enter doors. The central area has children’s

tables, chairs, tents and other indoor play items like the rocking horse. The central area is clearly marked

with light colour laminate flooring. Next to the central area is the IKEA staff counter with a computer

and the IKEA pencils, shopping list paper (to write the aisle, bin and product) and a paper measuring

tape. I noticed only one IKEA male staff dressed in the yellow shirt with blue trousers (IKEA Uniform)

in charge of the area. At the far end of the area there are beds, cribs, high chairs, diaper changing tables

and cupboards of different sizes and colours. All along the wall are shelves with more of what is

displayed on the walls and the floor neatly organised. There is a Fire Exit door at the far end of the wall.

There are posters hanging close to the cots which let customers know the size of mattress that is

appropriate for the different cots displayed.

Every inch of the wall is covered either with posters or with colourful duvet covers, carpets and

accessories (night lamps in the shape of flowers, star, moon etc). Another section in the area has four

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short aisles devoted to wooden toys, art material, soft toys and baby accessories such as plastic bibs,

cups, plastic spoons to feed infants, small hats, mobiles, and decoration for a small child’s room.

There are several other bins with different miscellaneous items such as boxes/bins of different sizes,

potty of different colours, butcher paper, including a bin with IKEA bags for the convenience of the

shoppers.

Each item in the area has a red tag with the name of the item and the price. Some examples of the names

include: ‘Lillabo’, ‘Noje’, ‘Fabler’, ‘Sloldpadda’ etc. Some of the bigger items also have aisle and bin

number written. This means that these items are there only for display and if customer chooses to buy

the item they can pick it up from the self service area.

All names were not English names. I am guessing they are Swedish Names. It was interesting that there

was no English translation below the names. Therefore writing down the name of the item was critical to

remember. The visual of each item was the only guide to tell what the name was referring to.

From the ceiling hung several other reminders to the customers of services IKEA offers depicted

visually like for example, a heart with arms reaching out which read “we take it back” (see picture 4)

I first situated myself next to the wooden toys where a sample of each of the toys was on display. When

I arrived there were 15 adults in the area and approximately 8 children. 6 of the children were less than 4

years old. The three young boys were all near the wooden toys and three girls were in the carpet area

playing with the rotating chair and the rocking horse. The girls were being closely watched by their

fathers. All the fathers looked Asian. Two of the men (F1 and F2) stood at the edge of the carpet

watching their daughters explore the small chairs, while the third father (F3) situated himself on the

carpet close to his daughter. F3 said “You have to take turns sweetie.” As he moved his daughter from

the rotating chair and allowed the other little girl who had moved closer to the rotating chair to sit on it.

F3 rotated the girl while holding his daughter on his lap. The father of the child, F2 came up and said

“Say thank you” to his daughter and smiled at the F3. The little girl said “Thank you” and moved closer

to her father (F2). I moved myself closer to hear the conversation better. The fathers smiled at each

other and when I got closer they were not speaking English.

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There were three boys playing with different toys. One was looking at the train set, the other was using

the toy hammer to hit the knobs on the wooden plank and one boy approximately 3 years old was

exploring the wooden toys.

The children in the area actively engaged with the toys. Every item that had the potential to attract the

child was kept at a level that was easily accessible to them. It is clearly a marketing strategy many

stores use. Parents often make decisions on what to buy based on what the child is attracted to and toys

he/she engages with.

One of the boys picked up a triangle block and showed it to a lady few steps away. She looked like a

South Asian but I could not tell from which country. She came close to the little boy and I spoke to him

in English. I knew she was the grandma when she said “Grandma is right here!” She looked at me

exploring the train set and asked if I was from Sri Lanka. I said “I am from India”. She stood right

behind her grandson and asked me many questions about how long I have been in Canada, which part of

India I was from and what language I spoke, how often I travel to India and how old my children were,

whether I was working and what was my profession. This is how the interaction went- She asked me a

question, I answered it and then she answered the same question as well while I listened. I learned a lot

about her as well. She had not been back to Sri Lanka for 20 years. Her family is there but because of

the violence they are afraid to go back. She has only one daughter who attended a private Catholic

school and got married very young. She said they were against the idea of living in with another boy

they much preferred she got married even if she was too young. She said “You know it is difficult to

raise a child in a different culture.”When I told her that my educational background was in Social Work

she immediately called her husband and introduced me to him and also informed me that he was a

retired drug and alcohol counsellor. She went on to tell me about the volunteer work she does at her

church and more recently she had raised funds to send to Sri Lanka. Our focus then shifted to the little

boy who wanted to show her what he had made with the blocks. He had piled 7 blocks of different sizes

and had made a tower. She said “That is a big tower!” and smiled at him.

When, I was engaged in a conversation with the Sri Lankan lady it was interesting to see how quickly

she identified herself with me and was able to share a lot of personal information. Ethnic identity and

the knowledge that I too am an immigrant immediately led her to assume that there were some

commonly shared values and culture. I was not even conscious at the time of the conversation of how

comfortable I felt speaking with her and sharing personal information about myself. Unconsciously I too

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experienced the same sense of oneness. I realised the value of doing fieldwork in places that you are not

familiar with. I experienced how easy it is to identify and engage with things/people one is familiar with

and risk loosing other relevant details during observation.

She had assigned me a role of a participant without me having to do anything. This presented an

opportunity for data collection that was quite rich in this case.

Turning to me she said blocks are much better toys than other toys pointing to soft toys in the

neighbouring isle. “Children get bored with soft toys very fast then they just gather dust”. She informed

me that she had a daycare of her own for several years and choose the toys very carefully. “I moved to

Richmond only after our daughter got married. Today we are taking care of her son as she is moving

into a new apartment and they are very busy. We decided to get our grandson to IKEA to play for a little

bit and then to have lunch here.” They said they had no plans to buy anything. We exchanged phone

numbers and parted ways. They took their grandson to the food court.

Retail space was being used for a completely different purpose. I began to pay closer attention when

possible to explore this further as I proceeded with my observation.

A white couple speaking English came into the area with a young child around 2.5-3 yr old. They had a

stroller that had many items - an umbrella, the child’s jacket, a diaper bag, a hat and a water bottle. The

little girl walked right onto the carpet area and sat on a small stool beside a table. The man immediately

drew the woman’s attention and said “This is the perfect size for her.” She replied and said “But it does

not look soft”. The man said “Why don’t you check out other items and I will stay here with Julie”. The

woman proceeded to the far and of the store. The little girl picked up a small pink stool and carried it

around. The man just followed close behind. When she put it down he said “Good job you are a strong

girl.” The woman came back with a plastic green potty and said “What do you think?” Before the man

replied she showed it to the little girl and asked “Do you like this? You are going to be a big girl aren’t

you?” The man said “I thought we had agreed to bring in one that fits on the regular potty”. She said

“This is so reasonable, we could begin with this.” The man nodded in disapproval and said “It is a mess

this one.” She ignored his comment and put a green one into the IKEA bag the man was carrying.

The father seemed to feel comfortable to allow his daughter to move things around. The space was child

friendly and parents seemed to use it as a good place to provide their child the freedom to explore and

still be safe.

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Initially I was not sure what to make of the conversation. For the woman the short term benefit of

getting the item at a low cost out weighed the difficulty of cleaning a portable potty everyday. Clearly,

cost of the item is an important fact or in retail to attract customers and to get them to change decisions

that they had previously made.

There was an older Asian boy who I had noticed in the area. He was approximately 10-11 years old and

was the oldest kid in the area. I saw him standing near the soft toys for over 10 minutes. When I got

closer I saw what he was doing. He was repeatedly picking up a soft ball and tossing it to the other end

of the bin. Three was no adult around him. A few minutes later he walked up to a bed and lay down on

it. He looked at the bookshelf near the bed. It had a puppet show board on it. He got up and picked up

the puppets, put one on each of his hands (zebra and an elephant) and pretended they were talking and

fighting with each other.

This is a good example of parent confidence in their child’s safety in that area. The IKEA staff did not

question him at any point during my observation which was indicative of their acceptance or tolerance

of this practice.

Every, now and then I saw the IKEA staff with the Yellow and Blue uniform coming by to put things in

order and to assist those who had questions about the product on display. He did not smile or speak to

the customers unless they came up to him and asked him for help or a question (I am assuming).

A Sikh couple walked in with their 3-4 year old daughter. They let her onto the carpet area and leaned

against a cupboard and watched her explore the items. They did not speak to each other and nor did they

talk to the little girl while she played. The Man got a call on his cell and was busy talking over the phone

for over 15 minutes while they both stood in the same position. The little girl kept coming back to them

as she played in the area.

I positioned myself close to them to see if the mother would initiate a conversation with me but she did

not. Listening to the husband talk on the phone he was speaking in English and had what I believed a

Canadian accent. I wondered if they were second generation Sikh’s living in Vancouver and if that had

anything to do with them not initiating a conversation with me??It would be interesting to observe to see

if there was any pattern among immigrants and other South Asians that have been born and brought up

here

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An Asian pregnant woman came in with her parents/in-laws. She was not speaking in English. She

walked slowly and pointed to things she was interested in. The elderly man pulled it down for her to see

e.g. Mobile, flower hat.

Another pair walked passed me. They were they to purchase a gift. I heard them say “Her daughter will

like this one”, pointing to a hat with bright flowers on it. The man asked her for her cell phone and

laughed when he saw it “You just love yourself don’t you?” She smiled and said “Somebody needs to!”

He came close to her and held her by the waist.

I saw a lady dressed in Salwar Kameez pushing a cart with a little boy approximately 4-5 years old.

Right behind her was her husband. He had a beard and they both looked South Asian. The lady sat on

one of the children’s cot while the man examined the cot with a metal frame. The boy looked around as

he continued to sit in the cart. In a few minutes the man moved to speak with the IKEA staff and I

moved a bit closer hoping to hear more of the conversation. She looked at me and smiled and asked me

if I spoke Hindi. When I said yes she switched to Hindi and said “My husband wants to get him

(pointing to her son) a children’s bed but I told him that it is better he get a regular bed so he can sleep in

the other room. I know my son he is going to refuse to sleep in a separate room”. I smiled and she

continued smiling “We have not become so Canadian yet, we are still Pakistani”. Her husband asked

her from the counter “Black one is okay” pointing to the cot with a metal frame. She replied in Hindi “I

don’t know if it safe. He jumps a lot.” She said “Okay ji” as she saw me walking past that area.

Shared identity (ethnic and gender), and language may be the reason she initiated a conversation with

me.

In the soft toys section I heard a lot of laughter. I moved to a point which gave me a better view of the

area. There were 4 young college/high-school Asian girls. Two of them had cameras. Three of them had

put on the hats on display with flowers/candles/vegetables/fruits on it and were posing for a picture.

They were all laughing and giggling. After they took the picture they moved out of the area.

Presented another way the retail space was used by the people visiting it.

An Asian grandfather walked in carrying his grand daughter. He was smiling and talking to the little girl

who was approximately 1 year old. He held her close to the mobile with small animals hanging from it.

He moved her closer and then suddenly moved her away. She laughed and tried to reach the animals

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with her arms as he moved her back and forth. I saw them do this for over 10 minutes. Then he moved to

show her other toys in the area.

General Reflections:

I encountered several challenges when I set out to do participant observation. My first challenge was to

make a decision on what to observe. The first few minutes I observed the layout of the place. Then when

I looked around I was completely overwhelmed. There was so much happening that I felt the need to

observe every movement and conversation but the reality was that I could not. In the process of trying to

arrive at a decision on what to observe I lacked focus for a little while and my attention was scattered.

It also felt strange to be there. It was a realisation that I had passed the state in my life when I needed to

shop for young children stuff. I did not fit into any of the groups that I observed. I did not have a young

child, nor was I pregnant or a grandparent. I felt somewhat self-conscious when these thoughts

overcame me. With the place so busy and so packed with things I almost felt like I was in the “way” of

people who were there with a “real purpose”.

However, the more observation I did in the place the more I realised that people came into the

children’s IKEA with different purposes: to use the area as a safe place to babysit their child while the

other parent finished shopping, just to keep their child/grandson engaged/entertained, to buy a gift for

someone else, to check out what was new, to socialize, to take a picture, and finally to explore items with

intent to purchase.

It was interesting to notice how the fathers and grandfathers had taken on the role of baby sitting while

the women did the shopping. Right opposite the children’s IKEA is the formal child care service offered

by IKEA. The Children’s IKEA was used by several families as an informal child care place with an

excellent adult to child ratio. The place was inviting for young children and safe as well.

I went prepared with a note book but once I was there I found it difficult to take notes while observing.

Soon I figured, if I had the IKEA shopping list paper and the IKEA pencil in hand I would look more like

a legitimate customer and could easily scribble my notes down whenever possible.

As I moved around in the section I was drawn to different people and groups and often I could hear the

conversation quite clearly but I did not have the linguistic competence to understand what they were

saying. This posed a huge limitation while I did the observation as a large number of people in the

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section were Asians and they were speaking different languages. As a result the conversations I could

note and engage in were only those that occurred in English and Hindi, two languages I am fluent in. I

tried to observe their body language but I also I realised that without knowing the subtleties of social

interaction that is specific to a culture it is difficult to know what to observe and to know what they mean

in specific cultural contexts. That realisation many times drove me to divert my attention to other

things/people in the section.

While I was hoping to see children facilitate interaction between adults, I did not observe instances of

that happening except one instance. The ambience of the place, the context of shopping and the fact that

it was close to lunch time probably contributed to people being in a rush and low motivation to engage

in conversations. The children’s area in a play ground is often a great place to observe such

interactions but the context and pace is quite the contrast compared to a shopping area.

While, I gathered a lot from my two hour visit to the Ilea’s children’s section I realised if I want to

understand customer experience, behaviour and decision making patterns in a store I would have to do

observations for extended period of time at different times of the day and even during the week. I also

wonder what it would be like if I were to get consent to take on a more formal role in the area (wear

staff uniform and be the helper). I am sure my observations and level of engagement would be very

different. Further, it would have been interesting if I was able to interview some of the people with

specific questions about their ethnic background, what products they were looking for, how they arrived

at some of their decisions, and their thoughts on children facilitating interaction between adults.

Another aspect of the participant observation method that I became increasingly conscious of was- how

our decisions in the filed guide what information we get. As a researcher I found myself deciding not

only what to observe, where to observe it from, but also deciding on what to report and how much to

report. There were so many things that seemed to occur so many times (people walking in and looking

around and then walking away) that I had to decide what was important for me to take notes on and

then report. Another, person observing the area is likely to come with a completely new set of

observations even if we did our observations at the same time. Thus the researcher’s subjectivity is

woven into several aspects of this method and it is critical for the researcher to be self aware.

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Ethical Considerations In participant observation the researcher is to some extent involved in the day to day activities of the

participants in the study in their natural context. The nature of this method of data collection does not

allow the researcher to anticipate the nature of the observation or interactions. As a result the use of

participant observation covers a wide range of ethical issues that are often complex and unpredictable.

Informed consent is one of the most important ethical principles in conducting participant observation.

Given the fact that during participant observation the researcher spends extended amount of time in a

setting and engages in a range of methods to collect data; observation, interviews, informal interactions,

participation in activities in the setting, use of technology to record (video taping, photographs and tape

recording) the process of getting informed consent is an ongoing and a dynamic process. While

acknowledging the limitations of predicting ahead of time the researcher must nevertheless clearly

communicate the broad scope of the study, the kind of information that will be gathered (methods of

data collection), the kinds of issues that may be discussed following the guidelines of the TCPS.

While written consent is needed in some research settings to conduct participant observation there are

many other settings where verbal consent is more appropriate. For example: In Pascoe’s study, she

sought written consent from the school administration to conduct participant observation at the school.

While, in Finkelstein’s study verbal consent was more appropriate since the only people she interviewed

were the street kids on the street. Had she decided to spend a time in the shelters she would have

probably needed a written consent form those in charge of the shelter.

Confidentiality is another key ethical consideration while conducting participant observation. In order

for the researcher to maintain the trust of the participants and other members in the setting it is important

to provide explicit information to the participants on how the information they provide will be handled

with confidentiality during the course of the research. This is particularly the case with sensitive issues

that may compromise the relationship of the participant with other members in the setting thereby

jeopardising the researcher’s ability to continue with his/her research. For example: information shared

by the participant of a school community on the school administration. Or, information shared by a

youth on his or experience with continuing discrimination in the community.

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Researchers are often faced with situations they did not anticipate and are expected to make decisions

while doing filed work that may not allow for long deliberations with review boards or other members of

the researcher’s review committee. In such situations the researcher will need to make well thought of

decisions based on the core principles of welfare and the larger good of the participant. The researcher

may have to weigh the legal and moral implications of his/her decisions. This may at times result in

circumstances that bring an end to the research in the community.

I realised given the complexity of doing participant observation the researcher must put in considerable

thought to anticipate the potential risks and think through ways of addressing them during the design

phase of the research project. Participant observation as a method has been used extensively by

researchers pursuing interpretive and critical research. Becoming familiar with some of the challenges

they have faced and in some cases overcome can prepare the researcher to anticipate and work through

some of the ethical dilemmas that may arise during field work.

In practicing what it means to do participant observation at IKEA I did not have to go through many of

the the ethical requirements stated above. Ikea is a public place and my intent was to only do

observations and experience the different dilemmas that one is likely to face when one begins field work

in an unfamiliar setting. Were, I to do choose Ikea as a setting for my research I will be bound by the

ethical standards of the TCPS.

Several other ethical issues that relate to participant observation are discussed in the last section on

ethics.

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Appendix 1:

Picture 1: Ikea Entrance

Picture 2: The back area with children’s

furniture and accessories

Picture 3

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Picture 4: The posters hanging from the ceiling displaying the services IKEA offers the customers

Appendix 2:

See attached scanned samples of field notes

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"The interview provides leads for the researcher's observations. Observation suggests probes for interviews. The interaction of the two sources of data not only enriches them both, but also provides a

basis for analysis that would be impossible with only one source"

(Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, p. 99).

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Conducting Unstructured Interviews: A Practice Session

Interview topic:

I am interested in doing a study of the common assumptions and assertions of inclusive education.

General Questions:

What according to you is inclusive education? What are some features of a good inclusive program? What advise would you give a parent who is looking at school options for their child with special

needs?

Respondent: A friend who has very recently got into the field of special education.

Interview Duration: 25 minutes

Interviewer (I): Hi, Glad you came. Would you like to have some tea while we chat? I am going to ask

you a few questions about children with disability and inclusive education.

Respondent (R): Sure

(pause while I poured a cup of tea for my friend)

Interviewer (I): Okay, can you tell me about what you think inclusive education looks like?

R: I think inclusive education is when children that are normal and children that have disability are

together in the same class. I think the goal of inclusive education is to integrate children so they can

adjust better to the community. If they are not normal we should learn to accept them as human beings

and treat them as normal. This must occur at different level not just at the school level. Parents should be

equally involved in it facilitating this process.

I: Can you expand more on what you said about treating them as normal..

R: Well, what I mean by treating them normal is treating them like any other person. Yes, sometimes

they cannot be treated normal becuas they are on a wheel chair or have a disability that is limiting but

we still those who do not have any disability can still respect them as unique individuals and give them

the same respect as we give each other..at least I think most of us do!!

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I: I want to go back to another thing you mentioned. You said “the goal of inclusion is integration”. Can

you tell me more about it.

R: Well the word inclusion means that the child is included and that is taken wrongly sometimes is not

understood well. It should not mean that she/he is there in the classroom but has nothing to do with the

other children. Sometimes, that is what I have seen when I have been a TOC (teacher on call).

Integration must be taught to all the other children. They need to treat the children well and with care

like we teach them to treat other children.

I: Can you elaborate more on your observations as a TOC in inclusive settings…

R: Well, I can’t say I have been to many school from what I seen …oh..some schools I have been to the

child is there and I am supporting him but he has no opportunity to interact with the class. It is really

bad; his desk is in one corner, he does not get to go to playground, it is quite depressing and many time

for some blocks he is there with other children with high medical needs who need to be fed in a separate

room and this kid can talk and walk and he is stuck away from other children. That I think is wrong.

I: I have some pictures here. Which one of these best represents a good inclusive program and why?

R: There are four pictures. I think this picture with the girl on a highly mechanized wheel chair, and she

has five other children on roller skates, the girl is all smiles and is enjoying being with friends and I can

even see that although she has a disability and she is in a wheel chair they are all holding each other and

going on roller skates, and of course, of the four pictures this is the brightest, it shows that despite the

disability the child is full of laughter. She looks happy. The two other pictures look depressing.

Specifically, this one in the corner. He looks lonely and this one here looks like is not an inclusive

system. They are all on wheelchair and look quite segregated. I believe there are some school here that

are like that.

I: There are some parents who have opted to have their children in a segregated system. When you talk

to parents who are trying to make a decision on school choices for their child with disability, what

advise will you give them while they are trying to make a choice on which system to opt for.

R: What do you mean by which system?

I: I mean inclusive or segregated school system?

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R: In my view, to each his own, parents know their circumstances best and they have their own

philosophies. They are in the best position to make a judgement for their child. But I would advise

parents not to rush into a decision that they may regret in the long run, as a first step, …take

professional’s advice, and see how things pan out, and in my view, the best way the best to facilitate a

child’s development is in an integration system. However, that is my opinion. There are lots of benefits

in an inclusive system. The concept of integration is still I think fairly new and its quite possible that we

are at the initial stage of the experiment….I guess that is why some school have not got it yet !! But I

think it is going to get better with more resources, training for teachers. So I think parents should think

through some of the benefits and discuss options with professional not rush to a decision. They have a

right to information and to make choices that is something they should

I: If parents were to talk to professionals and seek their advise what kinds of questions or issues should

they discuss or brig up?

R: That is a good question. I think they should ask the professional..and by that I mean a school

psychologist or counsellor…I guess….about what are the pros and cons of the two options and discuss

issues around what their child is capable of learning something like that …I guess..

I: What do you see as some benefits of an inclusive education system?

R: First of all, having a child with disability should be seen as a privilege for children who are

considered normal. It is an opportunity for them to learn to be in this world and understand differences

and respect it. Children learn best from each other so in an inclusive system it is a great way to children

with disability. They feel good about it too when they are made to feel a part of the class. Also, they

have exposure to many different activities and even if they cannot participate in each of them they can

still take part in some way. One little girl I knew had CP (cerebral palsy) but when others played

basketball she would sit and count how many shots each child got and she loved doing that.

I: What do you see as the role of the teacher in creating a good inclusive system?

R: One of things I forgot to mention is that the kind of disability is also very important. Some times

children have invisible disability like Aspergers syndrome or autism and these kids really want to be part

of the group but they have odd behaviours and don’t really mix well with the children. They need to

learn it. If they are put in segregated schools there will be no opportunities for them to mix with peers.

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This is possible only in inclusive systems. There are other disabilities like that and for them inclusive

education is better. Oh……(pause) coming back to your question on what role teacher plays…

well..teacher is the most important person in the class. She sets the tone about how things are going to

go for the class, what is important and the schedule for the day. Teachers, I think should have a plan to

integrate the child with disability in classroom activities to the extent possible. The child should feel

involved. That way she will model to the rest of the class and also to the families of the children in her

class. Here is what I think they should do, involve other children and also their families especially in

school events in taking turns to work with the child with disability. This will help them become more

empathetic to the families and allow for a better attitude towards inclusion. In the classroom she should

encourage children that are typical to volunteer, volunteer to lets say play the role of a buddy or help out

with a classmate who has a particular disability, and its quite possible that it might be a difficult …

children have their own commitment and interest. But they should be rewarded at least initially,

rewarded for taking time from other activities and volunteering to spend time, to be a buddy, again that’s

not going to happen in a short time and by just one teacher, it should happen at the school’s policy…the

initiative has to come from all levels the teacher’s level…and parents.

I: In your discussion of the benefits you talked about children with different disabilities. Do you believe

that inclusion is good for children with all disabilities?

R: Well……I would like to say yes….. but then I look at children on wheel chairs , that are not really

aware where they are and need to be tube fed and spend most of their time in resource rooms…I don’t

know if they are able to enjoy any of the benefits of the inclusive system. I don’t know I am not sure

what to make of it and what other options they have. Other kinds of disability that are not that severe

should be in an inclusive system.

I: Thank you for taking the time and for sharing your thoughts with me today.

R: Oh..you are most welcome.

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Reflections:

This was the second time I practiced doing an unstructured interview. In my first attempt I realised that

the interview was very constrained. I had assumptions about her understanding of certain constructs

such as “Inclusion” , “Individualized curriculum” that I found myself asking questions that drove the

participant to talk about things that I thought were important (inclusion, individualised curriculum)

rather than concepts she thought was important such as freedom, acceptance and benefits to the society .

I failed to ask probe questions that kept the interviewee engaged.

I also found myself conscious about how I presented myself while the participant was speaking. I made

sure I was not engaging in too much nodding or providing affirmations such as “okay”, “really” to lead

the participant towards a certain way of thinking and responding to my questions. I felt that my

preoccupation with some of these details made me further compromise on the kind of questions I asked.

It really helped that I knew the participant quite well and it did present a good opportunity for me to

conduct an unstructured interview in a conversational format but my own inhibitions were in my way.

This time around, I really prepared myself to relax and not be tense and over conscious. Although, I had

some general questions in my mind I did my best to ask probe questions such that the respondent was

engaged and it stayed more or less informal and conversations. I felt a lot more comfortable doing it the

second time around. The feedback on my first attempt really helped me to focus on some specific skills.

My initial few questions got the respondent to talk about what she understood as inclusive education. It

was a grand tour question to elicit information about her general ideas about inclusion. I was careful not

to assume that her understanding of inclusive education was the same as mine. Also, I did not want to

make further assumptions based on the fact that she works in the school system.

There were times during the interview I felt I had two or three items in my mind that she had said and I

would have liked her to elaborate more but I was only able to get to only one and never did come back

to it. For example in her elaboration of “goal of inclusion is integration” she shared her observation and

ended with children should “treat other children well and with care” I asked a probe question about her

observation as a TOC which I thought would shed some light on what she thought was good inclusion.

This was a question related to her experience as a TOC.

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However, looking back I would have also liked to probe what she meant by “treat them well and with

care” maybe some examples to substantiate it.

I found the elicitation devices useful to start a conversation on qualities of a good inclusive system. She

not only chose one but in talking about what she did not like in others provided some valuable

information on what she perceived to be negative aspects of segregated systems. It provided a good lead

into my next probe on advising parents. My initial probe was not very effective. I used the word

“system” which was new and she had to seek clarification before proceeding.

She provided me with a lot of information to my question on the role of the teacher my follow-up

question was not an open ended one. It was a yes/no question and I realised it as soon as I said it. She

did however elaborate a bit on it. I thought I ended it a bit abruptly but I was conscious of her time as

she needed to leave for another appointment.

Overall, I felt this interview went a lot better that the first one but as is evident there are several areas I

still need to improve.

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Elicitation Devises Used for the Interview

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Ethical considerations:

Ethical considerations that relate to interviewing (structured and unstructured) as the method of data

collection revolves around ‘informed consent’, ‘right to privacy and confidentiality’ and ‘protection

from harm’. “The consent process must reflect trust between the research participants and the researcher.

Often this based on the mutual understanding of the research project’s intentions.” (TCPS, December

2008) Consent can take many forms: written, oral, or other electronic means of recording consent.

Informed Consent: Getting informed consent means that the researcher is responsible to provide the

prospective participant full disclosure of the all information that will enable them to make an informed

decision of whether to participate in the research.

Consent must be voluntary: The participant provides consent voluntarily and reserves the right to

withdraw consent at any time during the research process. The researcher must be aware that recruitment

from a position of authority significantly compromises the voluntariness of the participants.

Right to Privacy and Confidentiality: Current practices that are guided by the Tri-Council Policy

Statement establish that researchers must demonstrate strategies that they will adopt to protect the

privacy of the participants following the interview process. This may include strategies such as using

pseudonyms for each participant during the reporting process and ensuring that the data is securely

placed.

Protection from harm: Ethical consideration to protect the participants from harm as a result of

participating in the interview process also play a role in interviews that focus on sensitive issues that

may cause the person to become emotionally disturbed. For example: a study that involves interviewing

people that have been sexually abused, or a study that involves interviewing survivors of a natural

disaster. In each of these cases the researcher must do his/her best to anticipate the effects and outline

steps when designing the study to ensure that will minimize the harm to the participants.

All participants should provide their free and informed consent prior to participating in the research.

(Also see last section on Ethics)

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ArtefactsArtefact is an object that carries meaning about the culture of its creators and users.

When studying teen culture some of the artefacts of teen culture could be I-Pods, MP3 players, I-Touch,

cell phones, posters of public icons they choose to put in their rooms,(they could be from different fields

for example, sports, music, film industry, philosophy, business). These items are called artefacts as they

carry meaning for the teens of today and provide us information on their culture. As a follow up to the

activity we did in class I tried to look at my son’s room and see what are some items that would

represent artefacts:

These items (medals, poster, sports bag) represent his interest in basketball not just as a passive participant in the sports but as an active player of the sports. The poster is his favourite player Lebron James.

This seems to represent a connection that he still holds dear to the time he was much younger

This represents the technology that is so much a part of his school and social network. It

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Coding, Analysing, and Interpreting Data

See Attached Power Point

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Ethics in Interpretive and Critical Research

Interpretive and Critical research that involves humans brings with it special issues pertaining to ethics

in the design, conduct and reporting of research.

In this section I would like review some of the ethical issues that are specific to interpretive and critical

research.

Social inquiry is a practice and not simply a way of knowing. Understanding what others are doing or

saying and transforming that knowledge into public forms involves moral-political and ethical

commitments (Schwandt,1997).In interpretive and critical research knowledge is socially constructed

and hence is dependent on the researcher’s interaction with the social context of the research. Further,

the conduct of research is largely guided by the researcher’s positionality in the context of the research

being conducted. Given the nature of interpretive and critical research, there are unique ethical issues

around consent, confidentiality and privacy, observation, and relationship between the researcher and the

participant that need to be carefully considered in the light of the principles outlined by the TCPS in the

design, review and conduct of research.

All research proposals in this field of inquiry must go through a review process to ensure that research is

conducted in accordance with an agreed set of ethical principles. These principles are outlined in the Tri-

Council Policy Statement (TCPS): Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.

The basic assumption of the TCPS is that research can benefit the society. The founding value of the

TCPS is respect for human dignity .The three core principles that form the basis of the TCPS include:

Concern for welfare, respect for autonomy and respect for equal and moral status for all humans. The

researcher may be in a position to identify many of these issues and outline procedures to address them

in the proposal. However, there may be many other issues that arise during the conduct of research

which will require the researcher to exercise discretion, and sound judgement bearing in mind the core

principles of the TCPS.

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New ethical dilemmas often arise while conducting interpretive and critical research and they provide us

opportunities to constantly review and sometimes revise the ethical code for conducting research

involving humans. For example, Fontana and Frey talk about two different cases in which the

researcher’s degree of involvement have led the researcher to compromise legal judgement in order to

maintain the trust of the participant. Was that an ethically correct decision? Should the researcher have

reported the breach and risked ending his research in that setting? Whose interests should we serve and

where do we draw the line? : would be some critical questions that come to my mind. There is no right

or wrong answer and justifications can be made for each option chosen. The researcher must however,

arrive at a decision with a sense of responsibility, being mindful of the implications of the decision.

Another, issue related to degree of involvement is sexual intimacy between researchers and the

participants and how that affects the study. Once again, the researcher cannot anticipate all the possible

relationships that can develop during the conduct of research but the importance is to think through these

issues and reflect on what that means to the research process. Wolcott speaks about his experience of

facing the public disclosure of his relationship with his participant in the ‘Sneaky Kid” story. He

discusses this issue in depth and provides his reflections on his experience. He leaves us with some

critical questions on the management of discretion in representing interpretive research. Researchers use

their power of discretion to decide what to report and what to leave out and how does one manage this?

What does it say about the credibility of the study? Is the discretion used by the researcher itself telling

us something about the research process? While there are no answers to these questions, it fosters a

discussion among researchers to acknowledge that these situations are real and needs to be part of the

discussion on ethics.

Covert research practices are usually not approved by the ethics review board. There are however some

researchers that argue for the use of covert practices because they mirror the deceitful nature of every

day living while there are others that oppose it on the ground that it denies the participant their right to

decide whether to participate in the research or not. Several ethical issues arise in covert practices which

may compromise the participant’s right to privacy and confidentiality. Depending on the context some

covert research practices may also be seen as a breach of law and thus have legal implications not just

for the researcher but also to the institution that is supporting the research.

I found Nespor’s discussion on anonymity in representation in the interpretive and critical tradition

particularly interesting. Anonymization in qualitative research is rarely questioned and often tends to be

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necessary and taken for granted. Nespor’s provokes a discussion of the basic assumptions that justify

anonymity on ethical grounds with reference to place and setting: (a) that identification can harm,

embarrass or invade privacy and (b) using strategies to maintain anonymity can prevent identification.

He challenges these assumptions and discusses the problematic nature of anonymization: which leads

researchers to produce representations of the world that ignore the connections that link places, writers,

participants and readers.

Representation is often guided by the requirements of the institution or the organisation that supports the

research. Review boards continue to be highly influenced by studies that follow the empirical tradition

and often apply similar standards in the representation of research under the interpretive and critical

tradition. The notion that if it is not represented in the traditional format which is similar to empirical

studies the study is considered to be less credible still exists and informs decisions taken by review

boards and editors of academic journals. However, there are some researchers that have used creative

forms of representation (poetry, photo voice, ethno drama, etc) .They remind us that research methods

and forms of representation cannot be viewed as static concepts but must be recognised as dynamic

processes.

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