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Ethical considerations are about being honest and transparent about one’s research. The considerations in this study are set out in the four points below:

 Permission and consent: The first consideration was to obtain the necessary permission from the Western Cape Education Department to conduct research with participants in the schools. The necessary forms were completed and submitted to the WCED and permission was granted. A stipulation in the letter of permission from the WCED noted that participants were not compelled to take part in the research. Therefore each individual was approached to request his/her voluntary participation in the study. Verbal consent was obtained from the participants. Consent was also obtained from the principals at the participating schools. Before interviews were conducted, the participants were asked if they still wished to be interviewed and were informed that the interview would be audio- recorded. Written consent was obtained for this from the respondents who signed the interview schedule if they agreed to the interview.

 Confidentiality: Participants’ privacy and anonymity were ensured. It was explained before the interview took place that no names or any means of identifying them or their schools would be used in the thesis. The survey instrument collected data anonymously.

 Honesty: No data was fabricated for use in this study. Interview transcripts were referred to participants for verification and agreement.

 Transparency: Information about the study and data collection processes was provided voluntarily to the participants and principals. The purpose of

the study was explained. A preamble was included in the survey instrument explaining the purpose of the survey. Participants were informed that the interviews would be audio-recorded. All role players were made aware that this was a private study by a doctoral student of Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and not research on behalf of the WCED. Participants were informed that the data collected was for the purposes of the study and would neither be used beyond the study, nor given to the WCED.

3.9.1 Positionality of the researcher

Within the phenomenological tradition, a researcher is considered an integral part of a study as one of the research instruments (Merriam, 2002:4). As an individual in this study, I would have my own constructs, beliefs, attitudes and understandings. Therefore possible subjectivity on my part could surface, which could in turn influence the interaction between me as researcher and the participants (Simons, 2009:81).

Furthermore, in this study the aspect of power presented itself in that I, as the head of the e-Learning unit of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), have knowledge of and influence in the e-Learning arena in the WCED. This is because I manage the e-Learning ICT integration training programme, am the first-level trainer of trainers, am the implementer of e-Learning in the WCED, have authored the WCED e-Vision, and have contributed to e-Learning at a strategic level. Thus relationships at varying levels exist between the participants and me at a professional level.

Within qualitative research, subjectivity and the position of power come into play, especially as it is the researcher who ultimately interprets the data. These aspects were acknowledged and strategies put in place to counter them. According to Simons (2009:81,94), to counter these, a researcher should be flexible and self- reflective.

To counter subjectivity and bias, the following were done:

 Participants and knowledgeable colleagues were included in verification and reliability checks.

 In the case of interviews and personal communication, the researcher provided opportunities for the participants to verify the transcripts. The transcripts were additionally subjected to a member check.

 The transcribed interviews were read and re-read to ensure that no information was omitted or incorrectly reported.

 Participants were given the opportunity to rectify any errors and determine if parts of the transcripts needed to be removed.

3.10 Summary

The study was underpinned by an interpretivist philosophy to gain rich insights into the complex issue of e-Learning practice at school level. A selective blend of qualitative and quantitative approaches, explanatory and exploratory enquiry, and inductive and deductive techniques was employed.

This study was aligned with the characteristics of theory building and underpinned by the tradition of grounded theory by using combined inductive–deductive methods. The research was a snapshot in time, working with a representative sample of practising teachers that used technology; being descriptive and explanatory, it allowed the researcher to conduct investigations in a focused manner.

Purposeful sampling was used. The sample comprised 15 participants for the interviews and 76 respondents for the survey questionnaire from a cross-section of public and private schools. The common criteria for selection included teachers who had received ICT training and were known to be using technologies in their classrooms. The sample size was guided by the concept of data saturation. The research was confined to practising teachers within the borders of South Africa. Data was collected through a survey questionnaire, face-to-face interviews, and literature searches. The data was subjected to content analysis. Chapter 4 presents the data and findings of the study.