Alcohol Deshidrogenasa y su Relación con el Cáncer

The research identified the barriers existing for mental health service users in the social and economic structure of society through a Marxist methodological approach. Mental health service users and mental health workers did take an active part in the research through describing the issues related to unaffordable and poor quality housing. However, I acknowledge that action research did not take place and I have provided two arguments why this may have occurred.

5.1.2.1 The effect of student research,

There can be a problem when research is undertaken within a student thesis as the student researcher‟s main goal is to gain a qualification. The student is likely to be acting alone and, outside the student‟s supervisors input, prepares, conducts and analyses the research. This then can discourage collaboration and participation (Herr & Anderson, 2005). I have to acknowledge that there was no collaboration with participants on the direction of the research. Another major issue was that the mental health service users were not part of an active group concerned with housing affordability. They offered to take part in research - not as a politically active group but individually.

However, by using a qualitative approach through an interview process, I acted as facilitator and encouraged participation which was achieved where those that took part were able to describe their opinions and experiences. Both mental health workers and mental health service users described what action could take place but this was set outside of the research parameters. The philosophical underpinning of action research was used where possible to promote the essence of this approach. Therefore, this piece of research could be described as the beginning of a process to encourage and support participants to take control around this area of discussion. As Oliver (n.d.) states: “If such research is ever to be useful, it must not only faithfully capture

the experience of the group being researched but also be available and accessible to them in their struggles to improve the conditions of existence” (p. 6)

One could also follow Freire‟s argument that changes can only occur through reflection and action. Perhaps if this research is viewed as the beginning of a longer process then the thoughts and views of the relevant participants are at a reflective stage of the process. Indeed Freire still sees reflection as a form of action. Freire also discusses that without developing knowledge the participant is going to accept a role imposed on him or her by those with the authority (Freire, 1972). In this sense the research can also be seen as a beginning stage for those participants in gaining the knowledge to then take on an action oriented role at a later date.

5.1.2.2 Ethical issues

Another issue rising from the research process was the influence of the Health and Disability Ethics Committee (HDEC). As the researcher I fully accept and appreciate that I have an obligation to maintain integrity, responsibility and competence throughout the process and to gather, analyse and report data accurately. Participants have the right to be provided with clear information about the research and have the right to informed consent, privacy, anonymity and confidentiality (Punch, 2000; Sarantakos, 2005).

Following the Massey University screening questionnaire (see appendices, p.123) I completed the ethics application through HDEC. At the same time I was also advised to make an application for research approval through the ADHB Research Review Committee. While understanding the process that resulted in HDEC‟s involvement, it is pertinent to question whether student research quite clearly related to a social issue requires the involvement of HDEC. The process, I would argue, involves unwieldy bureaucratic structures that can have too much control over the academic process and can affect the direction research can take

When attending the HDEC Northern X Committee meeting on February 13, 2007 my application was the only one that did not have a medical component within the study. At the meeting the focus of the committee was on the feasibility of the study rather than on ethical considerations. This is born out in a subsequent letter before approval was given (see appendices, p. 127) which stated:

The Committee had some concerns in relation to the validity of the research proposal (para 57, OSEC). The study relates to an important community issue but to inform improvements or changes the research must be of a sufficiently high standard. The Committee would like more comfort around how the real, concrete experiences of the participants are to be drawn out, separate from the researchers social/political views, and then analysed within an academic framework which may validly be a critical and Marxist perspective.

HDEC‟s role raises a problem of a „one size fits‟ all approach where a piece of social research, consisting of people voluntarily expressing their experiences on a social issue, is captured within a process that is predominantly geared towards ethical considerations of medical research. A Marxist theoretical perspective is inherently political as it raises questions about divisions that exist in a society that oppresses people. Being objective, value fee and neutral in social research is unachievable and undesirable. The researcher‟s political values and beliefs cannot be ignored. It would have been interesting to ask what the committee thought I had in mind when I was to interview participants.

I would argue that HDEC is an example of an organisation accepting the dominant ideological view of disability as a problem for the individual, seen as a medical not a social issue. The disabled person is viewed in terms of their limitations rather than their capabilities. Examples of this are the requirement that the information sheet had a statement that the study fell under ACC, and had to include contact details for the health and disability advocacy service (see appendices, p. 129). This was for all participants, not just mental health service users and was over and above the contact details of my university

supervisors. I believe that HDEC‟s requirements were over-protective of the participants which took away, to some degree, both the researcher‟s and participant‟s control of the research. Genuine action research is thus not possible under these institutional conditions.