Consent is essentially a clear declaration that a person accepts the request or proposal of another person or people. My first ideas about getting consent in any form are in a written or verbal setting, along with definitions that are specific to professions like law, medicine, research, and sexual relations. Initially, I thought that consent for disclosing email addresses was all that I needed to carry out my ARP and I assumed that those who participated in the pilot would consequently permit me to use their input. However, as a critical researcher, I must exercise informed consent.
Informed consent: “Permission granted in full knowledge of the possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with knowledge of the possible risks and benefits” (Oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com, 2023).
Informed consent is one of the main tenets of research ethics. Its goal is for participants to be able to freely (voluntarily) contribute to research after being fully informed about the implications of doing so and having given their agreement in advance. As a result, I would have to ask for permission to record, analyse, and assess their reflections, in addition to sharing their email address. Additionally, permission would be needed if responses were to be utilised in an academic dissertation, maybe as well as in related academic reports, publications, or conference presentations that may be published online.
The five people from the industry will be consulted in September and October 2023. This is the customary protocol observed throughout these meetings about the employability sessions (already expounded upon). I will then begin the initial phase of the consensual process by disclosing details about my ARP, giving participants the opportunity to consider the material considering the entire undertaking of the project. I will not coerce people into giving their consent; instead, I will read the same narrative (below) to everyone.
I will considerations to the quote by E, Calhoun (below), I be courteous and start a lively discussion:
“Action Research is a fancy way of saying let’s study what’s happening at our school and decide how to make it a better place.” – Emily Calhoun (1994).
Conversationally, I will say:
“I’m looking into how LCC’s career education specialists might encourage and impact social justice in industry and student engagement. I’m curious to hear what business professionals have to say about their experiences following UAL’s EDI/Anti-Racism training. It is a mandatory staff module; therefore, I was wondering if the training would influence how you would deliver your session or if it would even affect their function at work.
I would like to invite you to join my research, by doing the training, so that I can evaluate your experience, post-training, but before you deliver. After you have done the training, a consultation: should last between 10-15 minutes, on MS teams, I will conduct a conversational survey and I will take a responsive evaluation approach, then analyse your responses thematically.
If you take part, you are consenting to me (MP – The researcher) sharing your email address with UAL’s EDI department and UAL’s Staff Learning Team, for you to be able to have access to the training module. You will also be consenting to taking part in a pilot, providing feedback and for your responses to be used within my research and potentially future initiatives, around this investigation.”
The Data Protection Act 2018 – the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation: GDPR and confirmation of anonymity are requirements that researchers must meet, according to the University of Oxford (University of Oxford, 2021).
“Researchers should ensure that they comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) during and after the consent process, especially if they will be collecting special category (ie sensitive) data or personal data in the course of their research (also refer to the advice on consent in research involving children).” (GOV.UK, 2018)
Therefore, I would need to say: “Your anonymity is very important to me. The information about you and the company you work for will be confidential to me, as the researcher. You will not be identified individually anywhere in the research results. If I quote anything you have said in an interview, it will be anonymous. An example might be: ‘Professional A said, ‘The project is…’.’
I must also say that: “Analysis from the consultation – including quotations from you – will contribute to an academic dissertation. Your words may also be used in academic reports, papers, or conference presentations, around the subject matter and further investigations into the topic/research project. These may appear online.”
“If you choose to take part, you will be free to withdraw your participation at any point: contacting me via email or verbally during an MS Teams call. You will not be obliged to give any reason for deciding not to take part.”
In the second step of obtaining consent, the researcher reiterates the study’s terms and requires the person to fully consent to each clause before granting permission to engage in the research in its whole; not just a portion of it. I will ensure that verbal approval is obtained by summarising the APR in bullet points and verbally confirming that each participant has understood the nature of the research and what they were consenting to, in compliance with the minimal standards of informed consent (Shah et al., 2020).
After obtaining consent, I will enquire about the most recent EDI training that each participant has completed, to inform as to which module is required to be undertaken. After the consultation, I will inform the professionals that the UAL Staff Learning Team would receive their email addresses, from me and get in touch with them directly, via their emails, to enable access to the recommended module.
In summary, verbal informed consent will be gained before the participant(s) entering the research (respectively) during an online consultation. I will assess the modules that the professionals are required to complete and attempt to stay objective while reflecting on critical theory, without unduly influencing participants’ consent.
Link for Consent Form: ARP_ParticipantConsentForm_MP.doc
Link for Information Sheet: ARP_Information-Sheet_MP.docx
FYI post consultation: In the past two years, three out of the five claimed to have done EDI training. However, two out of the five admitted that they had no official training in this area. This made it possible for me to guide professionals A and E to do the EDI curriculum and for professionals B, C, and D to complete the anti-racism module.
References:
Oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. (2023). informed-consent noun – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. [online] Available at: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/informed-consent#:~:text=%5Buncountable%5D.
University of Oxford (2021). Informed Consent | Research Support. [online] University of Oxford. Available at: https://researchsupport.admin.ox.ac.uk/governance/ethics/resources/consent.
GOV.UK (2018). Data Protection Act. [online] Gov.uk. Available
at: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection
Sun, D. (2021). Action Research – How and Why Is It For? [online]
daily-sun. Available at: https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/596528
[Accessed 23 Nov. 2023].
Calhoun, Emily F. “How to Use Action Research in the Self-Renewing School.”
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1994.
Shah, P., Thornton, I., Turrin, D. and Hipskind, J.E. (2020). Informed
Consent. [online] PubMed. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430827/#:~:text=Obtaining%20informed%20consent%20in%20medicine