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Several important considerations and procedures were central to the design of this research. These considerations were intended to protect the participants in the research project as there is a risk with any research that involvement may cause physical or emotional harm, invasion of privacy, or even lead to exploitation (Cohen et al, 2007; Guillemin et al, 2004; Davidson & Tolich, 1999). Wilkinson (2001) claims that ethical principles ensure “that research is undertaken in ways to protect and enhance participants in research projects” (p. 26). Each stage in the research sequence raises ethical issues (Cohen et al, 2007) and hence Davidson and Tolich (1999) state that every effort has to be made to protect and respect the participants, and to ensure that the whole research process is ethical. Therefore, for the purpose of this research project, I adhered to the Waikato University Research Code of Ethics (University of Waikato Human Research Ethics, 2008) so that no harm was brought my participants. This rigorous process ensured that I considered the key aspects of informed consent, upholding confidentiality and anonymity to respect all participants‟ privacy, and being socially and culturally sensitive to participants within the research context. These ethical principles were

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addressed to participants in the course of my research, that is, before, during and after the research process, to ensure the research process was fair, just and legitimate.

Informed consent

The choice to be involved in research must be made by the participants and should be voluntary (Christians, 2005), and agreement for participation must be based entirely on full and open information sharing. There should be no physical or psychological coercion nor financial inducements used to make subjects agree to be part of the research (Creswell, 2005; Wilkinson, 2001). The participants have the right to be informed of the benefits and potential emotional, psychological or physical harm through their involvement, and participants are to be reassured regarding confidentiality and anonymity with how the information would be utilised (Burns, 2000; Christensen & Johnson, 2000).

Therefore, informed consent is a significant ethical principle which serves as the basis for other ethical principles (Cohen et al, 2007). It is the first part of the ethical procedures that begin the practical aspect of the research design. Guillemin and Gillam (2004) describe informed consent as “an interpersonal process between the researcher and participant, where the prospective participants come to an understanding of what the research project is about and what participation would involve” (p. 279). It was also important that the participants were given the opportunity to either decline or consent to participate in the research (Tobin, 2006) without any repercussions or harm.

Anonymity and confidentiality

Anonymity and confidentiality are two ethical principles of research that aim to protect the privacy rights of the research participants. One aspect of participant privacy is the degree of sensitivity of information that is personal and delicate in nature (Davidson et al, 1999). In relation to this research, examining the experiences of women leaders may elicit sensitive information if they disclosed gender prejudices or discrimination by colleagues. In addition, information that is

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disseminated could possibly connect personal information to research participants‟ identities. As O‟Brian (2001) points out, the researcher “has control over the distribution and transmission of that information” (p. 30). Thus, as the researcher, it was important to ensure that every effort was made to prevent the public deducing the identity of the participants (Cohen et al, 2007), to avoid any harm or embarrassment as a consequence of the research (Nespor, 2000).

However, total confidentiality and anonymity cannot be guaranteed (Tolich, 2001), and researchers are cautioned to consider before embarking on the research whether the ethical risks of the research project outweigh the benefits (Davidson et al, 1999). In relation to my research project it was conducted in the capital city of PNG where the higher education institution was known due to small numbers of them. This meant there was a possibility that maintaining anonymity would be problematic because of my presence as a „visitor‟ to the research site. Consequently, other individuals besides the participants knew the purpose of my presence at the research site and were able to make connections to women participants because there were only a few women in leadership positions in the respective schools of the institutions. As Christian (2005) confirmed, “pseudonyms and disguised locations are often recognised by insiders” (p. 145). Similarly, Nespor (2000) highlights how anonymity can be problematic within the research site:

The process of gaining access to settings produce a large tangential participants, for example, the administrators, manager, and officials with whom one negotiates for access who will know where the research is being undertaken and who some of the main participants are and may knowingly or accidentally publicly reveal their identities to others. (p. 547)

The smallness of the community where the research site is located can potentially reveal the identity of the participants. Therefore, it was my responsibility to protect the privacy of all the women by deleting personal information, such as their names, and addresses, precise details of the institution and any information that could possibly make them identifiable (Davison et al, 1999). Other strategies were employed to maintain anonymity. For example, with the consent of some of

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the participants, other rooms were made available at the research site for the interviews instead of conducting them in their offices. Some interviews were conducted outside the working environment. Overall, pseudonyms were used to protect the identity of the participants and to disguise the research location.

Social and cultural sensitivity

In planning and designing this research project, several considerations relating directly to the research context were highly significant and impacted on the research process. The cultural context needed to be taken into account because of the diversity of the cultures in PNG. As stated earlier, there are over 800 languages in the twenty provinces of the country; and while some customs are common to a number of areas, at the same time, some customs are very different. Such customs impacted on this research project. The socio-cultural context of PNG required me to follow cultural behaviour protocols. Vaioleti (2006) stressed that researching in the Pacific context requires a researcher to abide within the cultural norms of behaviour and attitude. For example, one of the women in my research had been involved in many of the government and non government bodies that pushed for gender equality issues in the country and also was one of the longest serving women academic in the institution. As part of the cultural protocols, I had to show respect and humility towards her and other older participants, some of whom were also experienced researchers.

For the women participants sharing personal experiences in on-site interviews, including gender discrimination and harassment within the same organisation, may have been a daunting process. I realised that some might fear that exposure could harm their careers or working relationships. I therefore gave them the option of using another venue for the interviews. A third factor I had to consider was the differences in views about the timeframe for the interview dates. In PNG, activities are not always time bounded and so it was inevitable that there could be problems about timelines between enforced westernized timeframes from the university and the busy timetable of the women. For example, several of the interviews were not held at the initial appointed time and were moved forward due to other commitments of the participants. This required the need for flexibility

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in planning to accommodate changes. It demonstrated an important part of the research process where western research principles meet with the Melanesian way of doing things. Even though this may have caused some problems such as not being able to collect data on schedule, abiding by the Melanesian protocols was fundamental to the relationship-building process, and to respect the cultural protocols. Similarly, McNae and Strachan (in press) when conducting cross cultural research in Vanuatu found that researching in Melanesian context can impact the research process both positively and negatively. They have stated that entering a different research context means acquiring and learning “new protocols, processes and systems” (p. 10) of Melanesia, and this required flexibility.

Each of these aspects impacted on my selection of data collection methods and the actual timeframe for data collection in PNG. It was therefore essential to ensure the data collection methods used for this research were appropriate to the social and cultural context, and suited the participants involved in the research.