CARGAS DE URBANIZACIÓN

Research ethics address issues connected with moral behaviour in a research context (Wiles, 2012). More focus on and in-depth review of research ethics has been raised by academics, organisations and even some countries’ legal systems (Dörnyei, 2007). Research ethics are a set of rules that draw sharp lines between what is good and right or bad and wrong (Hammersley & Traianou, 2012). These rules guarantee the morality and the degree of research ethicality, as they are also known as ethical issues. Ethical principles should not be ignored or marginalised, for research ethics are an inevitable part of any educational research. Cirocki (2013a, p.79) explains that adhering to ethical principles in classroom research serves “to promote standard scientific practice … to make teachers aware and understand their responsibilities as researchers, to promote scientific honesty and trustworthiness of findings, to prevent violation of research participant rights and to eliminate research participants harm.”

Basic ethical principles were adhered to and met in this current study. With the help of the Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, set by British Educational Research Association (BERA, 2011), informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and anonymity, data storage and protection from harm greatly shaped those principles.

Informed consent is a key ethical principle for conducting research and is one of its requirements (Wiles, 2012). So, its design and preparation should be careful with clear information for the participants about what their participation involves, to ensure voluntary agreement whether or not to accept participation in the research. Therefore, in this study, a full account of what the students’ participation in the research involves was provided through an informed consent form (see Appendix A). This consent includes: the purpose of the research, why it is being conducted, what are its procedures, what will happen to the results, what will happen if they agree to take part, what are the possible benefits or risks involved in their

participation, how their data will be stored, and how their participation will be kept confidential. For clarity’s sake, the consent form, along with participant information sheets were translated into Arabic. Both Arabic and English versions of the consent form were distributed among the research participants.

It is a vital ethical issue to respect the participants’ right to privacy, and to ensure that participants are aware of their rights to refuse to answer questions or to withdraw from the research without providing any reason (Perry, 2011). On the participant information sheet in this study, therefore, it is clearly demonstrated to the

114 participants that they have the right to withdraw completely from the study at any time without offering any explanation.

Confidentiality and anonymity are similar ethical principles. However, confidentiality means that some information in the research is ordinary and is not necessarily to be kept secret while other information is highly personal and

confidential and needs to be kept secret; anonymity, on the other hand, means that all participants’ identities are kept anonymised (Wiles, 2012). Also, confidentiality, for others, may be related to who is permitted to use the data of the research

participants, while anonymity means concealing all participants’ identities in all research documents (Cirocki, 2013a). Thus, the students’ identities and participation will always be kept anonymised and confidential in this study. This also included: informing the students, through the participant information sheet, that their names and personal details will be kept confidential and anonymous, and information will be available only to those involved in the research.

In connection with confidentiality, the storage of data might pose a potential threat (Hammersley & Traianou, 2012). Therefore, any information, data, or samples that were collected from the students have been stored on my personal computer and secured by password. These data have been analysed and their participation will be confidential and anonymous.

Finally, protecting the research participants from any physical or psychological harm is also an important ethical issue (Dörneyi, 2007). This study only dealt with the participants from an educational perspective, which caused neither physical nor psychological harm. Cultural sensitivity is also an important aspect to be discussed as far as ethics is concerned. Fortunately, I share the same background as the participants, and this made me fully aware of what was acceptable and appropriate for them or not during the programme. Therefore, interview questions were carefully and thoroughly prepared to avoid emotional harm and be culturally respectful.

4.10. Conclusion

In summary, this study addressed the issues proposed earlier to seek answers for the research questions through carrying out an action research in a Jordanian EFL

classroom. It situated ten EFL students into a rich reading environment, experiencing the ER approach for three months. A full account of ER was given to the participants on the first day of the programme, in-and-out of classroom reading was encouraged,

115 and ethical issues were addressed including consent forms and participation

information sheets. Data were collected using multiple tools: reading speed tests, vocabulary tests, reading strategies checklists, diaries, book reports, interviews and a focus group videotaped session. Then, an in-depth and thorough analysis was

followed using both statistical and thematic analysis. The following chapter presents the data analysis and discussion in addition to the research findings.

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