In order to prevent harm to the subjects and to obviate bias, the researcher abides by the ethical guidelines that seek to avoid harm to the respondents or to the organisations. Strydom and Venter (2002: 62) define ethics as a set of moral principles that are suggested by an individual or group, are subsequently widely accepted, and offer rules and behavioral expectations about the most correct conduct towards experimental subjects and respondents, employers, sponsors, other researchers, assistants and students. To ensure that the researcher remains ethical at all times, Sieber (1998: 128) suggested that an investigation into the perspectives and cultures of the participants and their community early in the process of research designs is important to avoid violating their needs and interest.
In order to ensure that the researcher’s actions are deemed ethical, subjects must provide informed consent to participate (Henning; Van Rensburg, W. & Smit B, 2004:
73). According to Henning et al., (2004: 73) the participants’ informed consent is required at two levels, namely the utilization of the research findings and their privacy and sensitivity and how these would be protected.
The researcher obtained permission from the Merafong Local Municipality to conduct the study (see Appendix 1). The request for permission indicated the need to interview respondents from the municipality, as well as to access municipal documents that bear relevance to the study. Upon approval of the research proposal, the researcher provided the municipality with the procedures of the study. This includes the list of documents required for the study. Once respondents had been identified, permission for
the participation was requested via the letter sent to the Director of Corporate Services and the Municipal Manager, the data gathering methods, including the use of tape recorders, as well as how information obtained would be used (Appendix 2). Once the respondents had granted their permission, they were requested to sign a consent form which has also highlighted the right to withdraw from the study at any time if they so wished. Further to this, the study obtained ethics clearance from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Faculty Higher Degrees Committee. The ethics reference number is H/12/ART/PGS-0040 (Appendix 3).
Another key ethical consideration crucial to the research is that of privacy and confidentiality and anonymity (Babbie, 2013: 440); Durrheim & Wassennar, 2013: 68).
Anonymity is an ability to identify a respondent from a given response (Babbie, 2012:
440). In this study, the researcher kept the respondents’ identities anonymous in that only views expressed by the respondents were shared and nothing about their identity.
Confidentiality means that information may have names attached to it but that the researcher holds it in confidence or keeps it secret away from the public. Information is not released in a way that permits the linking of specific individuals to responses (Neuman, 2012: 99). To assure confidentiality, Babbie (2012: 441) recommends that the researcher should undertake not to reveal information that might expose the identity of a respondent. Durrheim (2013b: 68) advocates that respondents should be informed of the parameters of the information to be provided and that they should be told how data will be recorded, stored and processed for released.
The researcher emphasised that the information provided was confidential and that the respondents’ names were kept and not mentioned in the research report or later publications. Information collected from the study was stored in tapes and some filled-in questionnaires were shredded with the shredder. Upon completion of the study the researcher would discuss the findings with the relevant departments and offer them with the copy of the study after graduation. The findings were made known to the respondents, since the study aimed at the impact of public opinions in post-violent protest recovery processes in Merafong Municipality especially Khutsong Township.
99
A covering letter and the invitation to participate voluntarily in the study were attached to the questionnaire to inform all the respondents and the managers about the purpose of the research (see Appendix 4). The letter was used enlighten the respondents about their contribution in fulfilling the researchers’ findings. The respondents were provided with a consent form that requested their willingness to take part in the study after being informed about the study. Respondents were not coerced to participate in the study.
This was to avoid violation of the research ethics. They were also informed about their confidentiality and anonymity. The letter identifying the institution, and the research title, with details of the researcher were also provided.
4.10 Conclusion
In this chapter, the researcher provided the goals of the research which, in turn, determined the methods that would be employed. Mixed-method analysis and semi-structured interviews would be the most suitable methods. This section discussed research processes, sampling procedure, the research procedure, data analysis and ethical consideration.
Chapter Five
Empirical study and Research Findings
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the data obtained from the questionnaires and interviews are discussed and analyzed in detail. The characteristics of the participants are discussed. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the aim of the research is to establish the perceptions of the respondents on questions set out in the questionnaires and provide possible solutions to the problem statements. The responses by the councilors and Senior Officials in the Municipality are discussed at length. Challenges that were faced by the municipality in addressing the issue of relocation from Gauteng to the North West are also discussed.
With the community in Khutsong, face-to-face interviews were conducted by the researcher in English with the help of interpreters to Setwana, Xitsonga and Sotho.
Ward councilors completed the questionnaires on their own in English. Where there were areas that required clarity to the questions, it was explained to participants by the researcher.