3.5.1 An ethics of care approach
The research applied an “ethics of care approach” in the study (Wiles, 2012, p. 5). This particular method for ethical decision-making was identified by Carol Gilligan in 1980s and expanded upon by other feminist scholars (p. 5). This approach works through a lens of compassion, where ethical decisions aim to ensure people benefit from the research (p. 13). Foundationally, an ethics of care approach focuses on “meeting the needs of others; recognising emotions; recognising people's rationality and interdependence; and respecting and seeking the views of others and their moral claims” (p. 13). Accordingly, the study approached the PV participants’ involvement with respect to each person’s experiences and reputation in the field. Through this intention, the study built rapport with the participants prior to the interviews, as promoted by Lamb et al. (2011, p. 679). It did so through email, Skype sessions or in person to familiarise them with the research context. It additionally provided space for them to describe the phenomenon through the storyboard and interview processes, sent them their verbatim transcripts for review and updates, and presented journal article drafts if requested prior to publication. In response, most practitioners updated their transcripts for clarity and/or to improve how they had articulated a particular answer. They also answered questions in text form in the transcript if asked for clarification on a particular point they had made in their interviews. As well, two practitioners asked to review any academic publications prior to publication. In their review responses to the draft of the one article published during the thesis writing (Plush, 2015a), they made minor updates to articulate their views more clearly. They did not alter the meaning of included the quotes.
This personal attention supported a moral obligation for “attending to and meeting the needs of the particular others for whom we take responsibility” (Held, 2006, p. 10). On a broader scale, the approach supported the study’s development studies ideology through its commitment to finding policy- or practice-geared solutions to development concerns (Molteberg et al., 2000, p. 7).
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3.5.2 Participant anonymity
In the study, the majority of PV practitioner participants said they were comfortable linking their ideals and experiences of practice to their personal identities. However, through the ethics of care approach, the study deliberately presented participant data and findings anonymously for multiple reasons, including:
Anonymity allowed practitioners to reflect honestly on PV practice in a safe environment. For instance, several practitioners in the study said being anonymous allowed them to turn a critical gaze on their work. They said they felt more comfortable being anonymous in relation to their reputation with peers, and/or because their livelihoods were tied to the celebratory promotion of PV practice.
Applying anonymity to all participants regardless of their preference further protected the people desiring anonymity.
Choosing to make all participants anonymous related to the intent of the thesis to provide a broad understanding of PV practice. It was thus critical to present a variety of voices and experiences as impartially as possible. Due to PV being a small field of practice in development, anonymity helped avoid privileging certain voices over others due to an individual’s history or reputation in the field.
The study took multiple actions to protect practitioners’ identities. For example, 22 of the 25 practitioners picked their own pseudonyms from a list of gender-neutral names provided in the study. The other three asked the researcher to choose their gender-neutral names. As well, any organisations, cities or country names mentioned by practitioners were changed to generic terms, as shown in [brackets] in the findings chapters. The study also assumed that in a small global community of PV practitioners, readers might identify individuals by how many years they had practiced. As such, the study classified practitioners’ experiences into wider categories to represent early to late stages of their careers in the practice, as shown in Table 3.1. Additionally, although some practitioners had implemented multiple projects over multiple years, the study capped their experience and years of practice to protect their identities. For instance, as shown in Table 3.1, the study capped PV projects at 50+, the category for projects raising citizen voice at 30+ and PV projects outside of one’s own culture at 20+.
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3.5.3 Data storage and anonymity
In the research process, another ethical priority was to ensure that “well-being and rights of research participants, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and anonymity” (Wiles, 2012, p. 15). To this end, attention was paid to the storage of participant data. For instance, the researcher recorded participant interviews through Skype on a voice recorder and using Evaer software on a PC. After the interviews, the researcher copied all data to a password-protected hard drive under the participants’ pseudonyms, and removed the practitioners’ actual names and digital files from Skype and Evaer. As other example, the researcher copied all digital participant data and storyboard files to the same hard drive under the practitioners’ assigned pseudonyms. The hard drives were stored in a locked cabinet at the University of Queensland; and the data backed up on a second password-protected drive stored at the researcher’s residence. In this way, the study made every attempt to keep the participants anonymous. Nevertheless, during the research process, the researcher received information that a couple practitioners had chosen to reveal their participation in the study during discussions at an international conference. As well, a couple participants used their storyboard drawings in public forums, including a webinar-broadcasted presentation and a PV activity report. The decision to share such information publically occurred without the researcher’s prior knowledge. Despite this, through the ethics of care approach, the researcher continued, and will continue, to protect the participants’ identities in the research process, in resulting publications, and in private and public encounters.
The thesis now turns from the methodology towards a deeper exploration of the study findings. It does so by presenting the findings that emerged through analysis, as well as how the findings link to academic theories on inclusive citizenship, valued voice and listening.
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