Jackie Taylor reflects on some unforeseen ethical issues that arose during her qualitative research interviews for her occupational therapy study. She discusses three main concerns: 1) participants may not fully understand what they are consenting to in unstructured interviews, 2) representing participants' voices respectfully in transcription is challenging, and 3) maintaining anonymity is difficult given the personal detail shared. She realizes qualitative interviews are less predictable than anticipated. Taylor reflects on balancing informed consent, honest representation, and anonymity in ethical qualitative research.

1. Unforeseen ethical issues: some
reflections on research
interviewing in occupational
therapy
Jackie Taylor

2. Aims:
 To share some ethical concerns which
have arisen in the process of my research
 To reflect on what it is to ‘be ethical’ when
undertaking interview-based qualitative
research.
2006 Jackie Taylor

3. (Finch, 1993 p50)
‘I have …. emerged from interviews with the
feeling that my interviewees need to know
how to protect themselves from people
like me. They have often revealed very
private parts of their lives in return for what
must be, in the last resort, very flimsy
guarantees of confidentiality.’
2006 Jackie Taylor

4. Four years ago……
 I got university ethical approval to do my
research
 I intended to interview 15 - 20 individuals
about their leisure activities, in their own
homes
 They would be serious leisure participants
 The group would be mixed, in terms of
gender, age, cultural, educational and socio-
economic backgrounds
2006 Jackie Taylor

5. What did I want from the
interviews?
 My interest is in the relationship between
engagement in leisure and identity
 I told participants this, and that although I had
some questions, I really just wanted them to talk
about their leisure activity in an informal way
 I hoped that they would tell me some stories
2006 Jackie Taylor

6. As an ethical researcher I
claimed…
 That I would protect anonymity
 That it was unlikely that sensitive
information would emerge in the
interviews
 That I would give sufficient information in
writing and verbally so that the people
could give informed consent
2006 Jackie Taylor

7. But I am wiser now!
 In-depth unstructured interviews are not
 controllable
 predictable
 easy to anonymise (Elliot, 2005).
 They are not like surveys!
2006 Jackie Taylor

8. Three ethical concerns:
 At the interview stage
1. Consent
 At transcription and dissemination stages
2. Representation and respect
3. Anonymity
2006 Jackie Taylor

9. Concern 1 – consenting to what?
 My interviews were unstructured and in
informal settings
 I focussed on everyday pleasurable
occupations
 I made use of my communication skills
from therapy and counselling
 Could my participants and I really know
where the conversation will lead?
2006 Jackie Taylor

10. The gym member

11. GM(1) she’s done a lot of competitions on a
Sunday – but we hardly go to church.
JT(2) are you having to reconcile that?
GM(3) I’m fine. Because I think, if it’s a gift,
as Gina believes it’s a gift, well, it has to be
used anytime, and any place and in any way -
you can’t say you can’t use it on a Sunday!
JT(4) It gives such pleasure
GM(5) yes, exactly, you should give pleasure
anywhere, anytime, any place
2006 Jackie Taylor

12. JT(6) yes – gosh, it’s erm . . .. we were talking
about you keeping yourself fit now, at 38, and I
was asking you what your ambitions are, and where
you’re going to go with it …. so I’m going to ask you
the question …. no, let’s backtrack - right, erm, ( )
(something almost whispered?) high points and
low points … tell me about a .. tell me about a time
when ..
2006 Jackie Taylor

13. GM(7) ( ) and I still feel it now, actually, it was . . .
When my dad stopped me (?) ((she starts to cry))
JT(8) oh, I’m sorry, I won’t ask you any more about
that – I didn’t mean to upset you . .
GM(9) ( ) I mean you can’t ( ) I mean what happened
happened, but do you know I loved it so much – it
was just something that was so – it was so
natural, and especially when I look at Gina and I think
‘God she’s very fortunate’, and what comes so natural to
her, she’s allowed to do, and she’s been confident and
everything you know (weepy) . .
JT(10) and in fact you were faced with that same dilemma
GM(11) yes, yes, yes
JT(12) that your father was faced with
2006 Jackie Taylor

14. Concern 2
– how to represent respectfully?
 Transcription is one way in which the
researcher represents the participant’s
voice (Conneeley 2002)
 The spoken word is very different from the
written word
 The participants will see some transcripts
 How can I ensure that my transcription is
accurate, representative and respectful?
2006 Jackie Taylor

15. The bird watcher - which should I use?
 I’m not into clubs, to be  I’m not into clubs, to be
‘onest, I’m not right good honest, I’m not very good
at ‘em. But, I joined, and at them. But, I joined, and
er they were interested in they were interested in
th’information that I the information that I
collated and what-‘ave- collated and what-have-
ya. Er and me father got you. And my father got
involved in that, and me involved in that, and my
wife also came. So it . . wife also came. So it . .
And me stepmother as And my stepmother as
well, she comes, so it well, she comes, so it
were a right good family was a right good family
thing, as well, to do, y’ thing, as well, to do, you
know. know.
2006 Jackie Taylor

16. Concern 3 – protecting anonymity
 My in-depth interviewing revealed unique
identifying detail
 Particularly at the extreme end of leisure
pursuit
 I’ve tried changing the names of people,
animals, events and towns to offer some
protection
 But this impacts on meaning!
2006 Jackie Taylor

17.  The bridge player gave me his exact
international ranking
 The railway enthusiast named key local
towns and events in the North West
 The choral singer was a member of a
famous choral society
 The horse rider and her horse compete
nationally in dressage
2006 Jackie Taylor

18. Dealing with these concerns …
 Ethical qualitative research may require
ongoing negotiation between researcher
and participants regarding
 Consent and withdrawal
 Honest and respectful transcription
 Anonymity
2006 Jackie Taylor

19. References
 Bird, C. (2005). How I stopped dreading and learned to love
transcription. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(2), 226-248.
 Conneeley, A. L. (2002). Methodological Issues in Qualitative
Research for the Researcher / Practitioner. British Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 65(4), 185-190.
 Elliott, J. (2005). Using Narrative in Social Research: Qualitative and
Quantitative Approaches. London: Sage Publications.
 Finch, J. (1993). 'It's Great to Have Someone to Talk to': Ethics and
Politics of Interviewing Women. In M. Hammersley (Ed.), Social
research: Philosophy, Politics and Practice. London: Sage
Publications Ltd.
 Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: an Introduction to Qualitative Research
Interviewing. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
2006 Jackie Taylor