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Privacy and confidentiality for the participants, especially as the research location was identifiable in the thesis, was a prime consideration in the research design. Before commencement, permission for the research was granted from both the University of

Canterbury Human Ethics Committee and the New Zealand Customs Service. The ethical and privacy considerations for this research included the need to ensure clear informed consent of participants so that they understood that participation was voluntary and conveying how the research could provide some advantages for the participants. The invitation sent to each leader set out the study’s purpose, potential advantages, time involvement and commitment

96 that would be required of participants. Confidentiality information and advice on the right to withdraw from the study, or withdraw information at any time during the study, was also included in the invitation. In preparing the invitation, the guidelines provided by Tharenou, et al. (2009) on information that should be provided to potential participants in order to obtain informed consent were followed. For a copy of the leader invitation, see Appendix B. As a further measure to ensure confidentiality, participant’s names were replaced with randomly assigned alphabetical letters on all data and materials, and names mentioned in the interview transcripts were removed. The electronic recordings, transcripts, journals, and all analysis data and notes obtained in the research were stored in password protected computer files that were only accessible by the researcher. These will be destroyed once the study is finalised.

However, as a member of the Customs Senior Leadership Team and the Group Manager of the organisation and human resources my responsibilities included convening interview panels for internal promotions and as a member of the Career Board the ability to influence development opportunities for individuals. As such, there was clearly a potential conflict of interest regarding how the information and insights gained about individuals in the study may be used. I needed to have trust and confidence that the leaders would be open in sharing their genuine perspectives of their experiences. In turn, the leaders needed to have trust and confidence that their honesty would be respected and individual confidentiality assured in the research outcomes. These factors were critical to the foundations and validity of the research and carefully managed by the researcher throughout the research process. There was some mitigation to these factors in that all of the leaders, over the previous three years, had participated in the twelve-month Leaders@Customs in-house leadership development

programme. As the designer and sponsor of the programme, and having facilitated a number of workshops on the programme, the researcher had established a level of rapport, trust, and confidence with the majority of the leaders. Furthermore, although working in Wellington, a different geographical region, the researcher lived in Christchurch and was therefore

considered to be a “local.” Being a “local” meant being considered as a Christchurch rather than a Wellington person, therefore more acceptable to many in the Christchurch workplace environment.

97 Throughout the study, the researcher kept a conscious focus on meeting ethical and privacy principles. This was enabled through ensuring clarity of and adherence to the researcher role, clear communication, and the explanations of the processes and safeguards for participants. The careful handling of these factors was critical to prevent responses being inhibited and/or shaped in some way as well as for the protection of the participants and the researcher.

4.12 SUMMARY

Adopting an interpretivist framework of inquiry for this study aligned with the ontological perspective of the research, as this framework recognises that multiple realities are

constructed by, and can be altered by, the researcher and the nature of the research (Laverty, 2003). This qualitative research applied an interpretative phenomenological analysis

approach. This aligns with the proposal that the type of problem best suited for a phenomenological approach is “one in which it is important to understand several

individuals’ common or shared experiences of a phenomenon” (Creswell, 2007, p.60). As a phenomenological study, the aim was to describe the lived experiences, interpret the common meaning, and elucidate the essence of the lived experience for the leaders in implementing the positive leadership model. The use of IPA enabled concentration on the experiences and on extracting and understanding the key themes that tell the story of the leaders’ experiences. Together with the researcher’s interpretations, these provided the essence of the leaders’ experiences.

Furthermore, the approach fitted with the social constructivist philosophical position of the researcher in that it acknowledged the notion of considering reality as socially constructed (Smith, et al., 2009), and formed through interactions with others. The research also sought knowledge, and it had a primary aim of understanding the essence of the experience from the perspective of the participants and of developing a deeper understanding about the

implementation of positive leadership. A number of underlying assumptions, ethical considerations, and privacy considerations were consistently managed throughout the research. From the epistemological perspective, the phenomenological approach enabled a relationship between the participants and the researcher and acknowledged that the researcher was essential to the inquiry approach.

98 The next chapter presents the findings for this study under the four key themes that emerged from the analytic process and addresses the four research questions. Chapter 6 provides a discussion on the findings.

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