Martin William Byrne (D7362662) TMA02 EE819

TMA 02 Assignment Task EE819

Part A

1. I am going to adopt a case-study approach with regard to the participants

involved in combination with the design frame of linguistic ethnography.

The case-study approach is appropriate for a qualitative study such as this since

is a method which can produce the ‘thick descriptions’ (Geertz, 1973)

containing rich or in-depth data. It also permits the use of a longitudinal study, a

secondary research design used successfully in Morita (2004), although the

time-scale in the present micro-genetic study will be measured only in weeks or

months. The case-study approach in Gregory et al. (2007) is an excellent

precedent for emulation here as its context of early socialization cross-culturally

and intergenerationally is germane here. Shawer (2010), in examining two Commented [EP1]: There is repetition of ‘here’…

teachers, feels that the case-study approach gives access to the holistic nature of

the phenomena with the participants being observed in their settings with an

emphasis on natural observations. Commented [EP2]: Do consider though how naturalistic

Linguistic ethnography dovetails seamlessly with the case-study approach, being
interdisciplinary in nature. In this study, the reflexive sensitivity of ethnography
concerning the wider social world of Spain and the child’s context can be
any ‘observation’ can be?
Commented [EP3]: Not seamlessly, since the dynamics of
the case study are often uneven in power terms. It is not
possible to come into the community as a participant
observer. You are already in the community but your
participants may both react to being observed.

combined with the analytical framework of linguistics (SFL register analysis and

multimodal analysis) to scrutinize the microcosm of the developing social

practice of literacy with his mother. Thus, there will be a mutual benefit between

the macro approach of ethnography and the micro one of linguistics (Creese,

2011). The implications for the carrying out of the study are the adoption of the

key methods used in linguistic ethnography, those of participant observation,

field notes, diaries, interviews and recordings. The methodology of linguistic

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 Martin William Byrne (D7362662) TMA02 EE819

ethnography, particularly its grounding in lived contexts and close analysis, will

help to favour the concrete over the abstract in this study (Woydak and

Rampton, 2016: 729). Creese feels that team ethnography can help eliminate a Commented [EP4]: Date, page.

false consensus of non-contradiction present in the work of sole authors, but

taking on board the points she makes about how post-structuralism should

necessarily form part of linguistic ethnography as it has in other social sciences,

as a sole researcher I will try to be consciously unafraid of any apparent

contradictions that the data may generate. Commented [EP5]: Will you ask participants to give their
view of the data gathered?

2. The data required to address the research questions are the observation of the

mother and child to be collected using audio and visual recordings and field

notes taken by the participant observer; impressions of the mother regarding her

scaffolding cues and also of the child’s response to these to be provided by

interviews; and written reports by the mother collected in a diary. This multiple

use of data sources will provide triangulation and evidence of a kind known as

‘concrete and complex illustrations’ (Wolcott, 1994, quoted in Morita, 2004:

578). Commented [EP6]: I agree.

The video recordings will be examined for evidence of scaffolding by the

mother during book reading, child response to same, and L2 production on the

child’s part. Those portions deemed relevant to scaffolding will be transcribed Commented [EP7]: What about L1 production? Would
you not argue your child has in fact 2 L1s?
(verbal element) and then submitted to a register analysis; relevant pragmatic

elements will be subject to a parallel multimodal analysis (Flewitt, 2011). Both Commented [EP8]: Start thinking about how and what
you will code?
analyses will provide an etic perspective.

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Field notes will be taken by the researcher in the role of participant observer and

will relate to the text read or other circumstances which may not be visible to the

video camera.

The interviews with the mother offer a primary source of data when not related

to the observational data, and a supplementary source when related to the

observations. Interviews will be used before the study commences at a

preliminary or exploratory stage; during the study in relation to ongoing

progress particularly concerning any changes noted by the mother in her diary; Commented [EP9]: Read some critiques of parental diary
keeping – ask me for more if you need references.
and at the end of the study to assess the effectiveness of scaffolding used. The

end of study interview could be combined with a viewing between interviewer

and interviewee of the videoed interaction with the mother to provide

triangulation (Gregory et al., 2007).

The interviews will follow a semi-structured format with guide questions, the

purpose of which will be to allow a more free-flowing discourse but will involve

the interviewer remaining neutral and withholding his own opinion. These guide Commented [EP10]: Is that ever possible?

questions will largely follow the cueing categories indicated by Cole (2006).

The self-reports/diary written by the mother will give her an opportunity to

express her insights concerning her impression of the child’s growing

understanding and complexity of expression and can be completed weekly, thus

covering the longer periods between recordings when change is not noted in any

other way.

The field notes, interviews and self-reports will comprise an emic research

perspective. Commented [EP11]: Why is this so good?

The observation will include the reading of the same story books in order to

provide an objective basis for the development of scaffolding over the duration

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of data collection. The recording duration at each instance will simply be that of

the length of the story-reading interaction, with this lasting only as long as is

natural to the setting and the interest of the child. Commented [EP12]: What books have you chosen?

The analytical tools applied will be an SFL register analysis of what the mother

says (the transcripts) and a multimodal analysis of visual and pragmatic features

adapted from Flewitt’s (2011) multimodal system. SFL is a theory developed by

Halliday (1975) which considers how people use language in real-world

situations to achieve their social purposes. The register analysis relates language

use to context by dividing it into various categories (see appendix) to reveal its

meaning. Commented [EP13]: Have you read Halliday’s ‘learning to

mean’? May be useful for the child utterances.
3. The data collection method of observation in this study has the following

affordances: direct information about the physical environment and human

behaviour of the participants can be recorded without having to rely on the

retrospective or anticipatory accounts of the mother; the researcher may notice

things which the participants cannot, especially patterns and regularities in the

participants’ behaviour; and the observation of the child will be the only way to

access information about his behaviour as he cannot speak for himself (Foster,

2011: 5). I would consider the use of audiovisual technology during observation

to be essential to record communication (Tizzard and Hughes, 1984), as field

notes could not capture such fine-grained minutiae. The method’s limitations in

this study include the reactivity or change of behaviour caused to the mother and

child by the presence of the observer or the procedures employed; and the fact

that in choosing what to transcribe I will be making an analytical choice and

filtering the observations through my interpretive lenselens (Foster, 2011: 7-8). Commented [EP14]: Good.

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The data collection method of the interview has been criticized by Silverman

(2001) as providing manufactured or contaminated data which is partial,

foregrounding and reflecting the researcher’s agenda which has been set by her.

Antaki (2000), is similarly damning of the method, offering the example of

interviewers making the respondents’ answers fit their structured questions by

repeating the same question until the ‘right’ answer is obtained. Commented [EP15]: It is possible to mitigate this effect –
do not ask leading questions, do not dominate.
These criticisms are valid if interviews are seen merely as a means of extracting

an interviewee’s ideas and opinions, ‘accessing stuff that cannot be got at by

direct observation’ (Patton, 1980). In this study, however, the interview is seen

as a collaborative or interactional event in which both parties co-construct social

reality, reflecting the constructivist ontological assumption of the research

proposal’s paradigm.

Finally, the interview accords with the meaning-making emphasis of SFL which

dominates this study. Rom Harré (Harré and Secord, 1972) recommended the

correct use of the interview as being one that treats people as human beings by

asking them to account for their actions. As such, people’s behaviour is not

something mechanical that can be deduced from positivistic experiments, but

something meaningful which I as interviewer will view as going ‘directly to the

source’ of the causes of behaviour by probing the ‘why’ of the mother’s actions

as well as the ‘how’ (performative) and ‘what’ (referential) of these and the

value system (indexical) (Lillis, 2008). To do this, questions will be necessary as Commented [EP16]: Even then, they may have more
than one reason for your actions.
expecting the answers from a naturalistic approach would be impractical.

Other affordances and limitations of the interview are given below, following

Edley and Litosseliti (2010):

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Affordances Limitations

Emic perspective Intensive re time

Use at any point throughout Bias and manipulation on part of

diachronic study interviewer possible

Empowers participants False consensus may be reached

Examines shared understanding of Can be open-ended and unpredictable

participants if not rigorously planned

(questioning)

Multivocality

Rapport generated between

participants

Table 1: affordances and limitations of the interview (after Edley and Litosseliti

(2010)

The analytical tool of an SFL register analysis derives from a theory developed

by Halliday (1975) which considers how people use language in real-world

situations to achieve their social purposes. Here, the language used by the

mother and child will be examined as a means of revealing its meaning-making

aspect through a register analysis. SFL has traditionally limited itself to texts,

texts being defined as ‘any cohesive stretch of spoken or written language’

(Hall, 2012: 163). It may be the case that the kind of ‘text’ produced by a child

in his second year of life may not be cohesive enough to admit of analysis using

SFL according to this definition, but it is a central tenet of this study that such Commented [EP17]: See my earlier comments?

communication is analyzable. Using a combination of a register analysis with

the multimodal analysis of Flewitt’s matrix (Flewitt, 2011: 5-6) and adjusted to

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include the non-verbal pragmatics of Cole such as pointing (Cole, 2006: 454),

this hybrid theoretical framework would provide the analytical tools for a

complete understanding of the communicative context contemplated here: any

verbal and non-verbal communication which contains meaning could be

transcribed. In any case, even if the child’s communication proves less amenable

to analysis for semantic content, the mother’s discourse certainly will, and this at

least will change its meaning potential over the time of this study in a way that

will provide a variable measurable by SF-MDA.

4. In proposing this research project, I have kept in the forefront of my mind that I

will be carrying out research not on subjects, but both with and for participants.

I have reviewed the ‘Ethics checklist’ as detailed in the Masters in Education

website (see appendix 2) and have also informed myself of the guidelines about

professional ethics produced by the British Association of Applied Linguistics

(BAAL).

a) I will indicate how voluntary informed consent will be obtained from my

participants, including on behalf of my child participant, and I will use

consent forms duly completed by them which will inform them that they

have the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

b) I will be aware of the participation of a vulnerable child and cognizant of any

detriment arising to him or his mother in participation in this research.

c) As I am proposing to collect video and audio data, I will indicate how the

data will be securely stored and that the anonymity of the participants will be

preserved by assigning them initials in the study which will not be taken

from their real names. Commented [EP18]: Good – they must also have the
right to withdraw.

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d) The participants will be given the right to access data after it has been

collected and the outcomes produced in the research.

e) The story books will be examined to ensure that no offence will be caused

and that they are age appropriate.

In conducting this research, I will honour the cardinal principles essential to

professional and research ethics which Kitchener (1984) identifies as beneficence,

nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice and fidelity. The ethical grid provided by Seedhouse

(1998) can help me to enhance my deliberation on the four perspectives of the

individual, my obligations, the consequential considerations and the external framework

of my research setting.

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Part B: Contingency plan

March 7 14 22 22-28 29 30-4.4

TMA 2 TMA 2 preliminary books book a.1. transcription

submitted feedback interview examined of

(estimate). with mother video a.1. video &

technical interview

testing fieldnotes

fieldnotes

pilot interview edited

recording

PD 1

interview.

April 5 6-11 12 13-18 19 20-25 26

book a.2. transcription book b.1. transcription book b.2. transcription Final

of video & of of interview

video a.2. interview video b.1. video & video b.2. video &

interview interview Watching

fieldnotes fieldnotes fieldnotes fieldnotes the four

edited fieldnotes fieldnotes videos

interview interview edited interview edited with

PD 2 participant

interview PD 3 PD 4 s for

interview interview comment

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May 27.3-2.5 9-11 12-26

transcription presentation writing

of final of findings dissertation

interview

analysis of

changes in

transcripts

Report on PD

1-4

synthesis of

fieldnotes

June 27.5-24.6

Independent

research and

EMA writing

(draft 1)

July 25.6-22.7

Independent

research and

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EMA writing

(draft 2)

August 23.7-19.8

Independent

research and

EMA writing

(draft 3)

September 20.8-5.9

Final draft

preparation

and

submission.

This is good – there is lots of slippage time if you need to have more time to

transcribe.

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In the above schedule, two books, a and b will be used. In the preliminary interview the

mother will be presented with the general aims of the study along with the schedule and

will be asked to give her informed consent. She will be given the participant diary (PD)

whose function is to record the changes noted by her between the readings of the two

books with regard to the research questions – she will read the book to the child

between observations and the number or frequency of these readings will be a matter

subject to her decision. She will also be familiarized with the other research

instruments. Commented [EP19]: Will you brief on how to take notes

in the PD?

The technical aspects of recording will then be tested and an interaction will be recorded

with a book not used in the study to ensure that the visual and sound quality is good and

is legible. A technical challenge would be to captures all of the relevant multimodal

features (gaze/gesture). It would be ideal if there could be two cameras, one a front view

of the mother and child together, and another ‘over-the-shoulder’ recording of the page

being read so that pointing cues can be observed. However, it would be difficult to

organize this and to later combine both views for simultaneous transcription. If one

device must be resorted to for recording, it is hoped that the other research instruments

may gather the necessary data. Commented [EP20]: Indeed. Not much can be done
about this.

An important issue is if the interval of a week between the recordings of the interaction

with the same book will be enough time to allow changes that can be noted to develop. Commented [EP21]: The changes may be very slight but I
think a week is reasonable.
This time interval might be extended further, but it is thought that two books should still

be used to offer comparative examples. An impediment to this study would be the

absence of any recordable intelligible utterances on the part of the child. In such a case, Commented [EP22]: You need to look also at body
language, gaze.
the SFL analysis method may have to be backgrounded and that of the multimodal

foregrounded, and in the writing of the EMA more attention paid to child language

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acquisition theory and phonetics, in particular to the prelinguistic period and the

development of protowords.

Attempts will be made to minimize reactivity on the part of the participants by the

observer remaining out of view of the mother and child.

The pilot recording should help me to learn how to identify the relevant sections of the

observations for transcription to avoid having too much data.

Time flexibility is built into this study in its EMA writing phase in which three drafts

are planned before the final one is completed. One of these drafts could be dispensed

with, introducing a month’s leeway, or even two drafts allowing the study to avail of

two months for data collection. This would help ameliorate the concern that there would

be no discernible or legible change between readings by allowing me to increase the

time between them from one week to many weeks. The above contingency plan has

been constrained to fit with the OU weekly schedule programme, but this may be

unwarranted. Commented [EP23]: I think that is a good idea.

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Part C: Research instruments

i) Interview guide

a) Preliminary interview questions

 Why did you choose these two books?

 Why do you think they are interesting or appropriate?

 How do you think this reading activity will benefit the child?

 Do you think being observed and recorded will change your normal story-

reading behaviour

 or that of the child?

 Would you be willing to give an undertaking that you will faithfully and

honestly answer the questions of this study in a manner which truly reflects your

thinking? Commented [EP24]: Whose thinking led you to this

question? Might it pile pressure on?

b) Interview questions immediately after the recording and/or while watching the

recording

General

 Do you think the child was interested in the reading activity?

 How did he express this interest or lack of it?

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 In this reading activity, to what extent do you think the child understood its

content?

 How do you know?

 Did you or the child use Spanish at any point during the reading?

 If so, give examples or comment on the recording.

Scaffolding

Semantic-syntactic

 Did you try to explain the meaning of the text in general or did you focus on

particular words or phrases?

 How did the child respond?

 Did you relate new words to the child’s experience or context?

 How did the child respond?

 In explaining the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence or text fragment, did you

refer back in the text or to other texts?

 How did the child respond?

 Do you sometimes digress from the text?

 To what extent?

 How did the child respond?

 Did you anticipate the text before reading it?

 Did you talk about the pictures before going on to the reading?

 How did the child respond?

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Pragmatic

 How did you indicate meaning through your facial expressions?

 How did the child respond?

 How did you indicate meaning through how you made eye-contact with the

child?

 How did the child respond?

 Did you point to images in the text?

 When doing so did you add any verbal explanation?

 Did you relate them to the child’s experience?

 How did he respond?

 What gestures or movements of your body did you use to aid understanding of

the text?

 How did the child respond?

 Did you use onomatopoeia when talking about words, texts or images?

 Did you use other ‘sound effects’ to indicate meaning?

 How did the child respond?

Graphophonic

 Did you point to words or trace them out when reading the text?

 How did the child respond?

 Did you sound out words when reading the text?

 If so, how did the child respond?

 Did you ask the child to repeat words?

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 If so, and he attempted to pronounce words, did you afterwards correct his

pronunciation?

 Did you vary your intonation when reading the story?

 What effect did this produce on the child’s response?

 Did you sing or chant portions of the text?

Other

Please indicate other ways or strategies not covered by the above questions that you

used to help the child understand the text and indicate how he responded to these.

c) Interview questions when watching two recordings of a reading of the same

book after an interval of time (final interview).

 Referring to the above questions in part b, what changes do you notice in your

reading of the book and the child’s responses between the two recordings?

d) Field notes

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Date:
Time: Duration:
Book:

Observations:

Comments:

e) Participant Diary

This will take the form of a commercial diary in which notes will be

made following the interview questions given above, or according to the

mother’s discretion. Commented [EP25]: Have a think about what you will ask
to be recorded here.

f) Observation schedule

See above in the contingency plan.

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v) Blank Register Analysis Template following Systemic Functional

Grammar (SFG)

Field Categories of typical lexicogrammatical features

The social activity taking Circumstances: location, manner, time (points in time and

place and the topic being duration) cause, extent.

discussed:

Processes: material, behavioural, mental, verbal, existential,

relational.

The degree of Lexis detail : adjectival groups/nominal groups/adverbial

specialisation of lexis? groups/verbal groups

The angle of Participants: agent/affected, behaver,

representation: experiencer/phenomenon, sayer/receiver/said, existent

(Coffin et al., 2009: 282-332)

Tenor Categories of typical lexicogrammatical features

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Social roles and social Mood: imperative/declarative/interrogative (Speech

status functions: four basic ones regarding the exchange of goods

and services, and roles of giving or demanding; twelve ones

in a more extended analysis involving initiation and response

(Coffin et al., 2009: 362))

Social relationship Who performs which speech functions; how turn-taking is

(status/power, done in the interaction; who selects topics for discussion.

equality/inequality): (Coffin et al., 2009: 367)

Social Formality of language; terms of address; lexicogrammatical

connectedness/distance: features which signal reduced (for example: ellipsis;

contractions; vocatives; coloquial language) or expanded

social distance (Coffin et al., 2009: 373)

Speaker/writer persona
Modality and the expression of appraisal resources: attitude,

degree of commitment, open/closed stance, social

purpose/genre (Coffin et al., 2009: 382; 387)

Mode Categories of typical lexicogrammatical features

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Spontaneity: Repetitions, mid-utterance corrections, lexical density,

nominalistation, theme (hyper/macro)

Interruptions, overlap, clause structure

Interactivity:

Theme, nominalisation, cohesive devices:

Communicative distance
exophoric/endophoric reference, lexical sets (Coffin et al.,
(language as action or
2009: 433)
reflection):

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vii) Multimodal analysis framework

Time Participant Speech or Speech Gaze Body Body

(min/sec) Vocalisation (Spanish Orientation Movement

(English with (Including

analysed in translation) pointing)

Register table)

3439 words Commented [EP26]: Ethics form is not here.

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Bibliography

Bassey, M. (1992) ‘Creating education through research’, British Educational Research

Journal, vol. 18, pp. 3-16.

Cole, A.D. (2006) ‘Scaffolding beginning readers: Micro and macro cues teachers use

during student oral reading’, Reading Teacher, vol. 59, no. 5, pp. 450-459.

Creese, A., Bhatt A., Bhojani, N. and Martin, P. (2008) ‘Fieldnotes in team

ethnography: researching complementary schools’, Qualitative Research, vol. 8, no. 2,

pp. 197–215.

Flewitt, R. (2011) ‘Contemporary learning landscapes and multimodality’, E852

Reader, unpublished article, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Foster, P. (2006) ‘Observational research’, in Sapsford, R. and Jupp, V. (eds) Data

Collection and Analysis, 2nd edn, London, Sage.

Geertz, C. (1973) The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, New York, Basic.

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Gillen, J., Littleton, K., Twiner, A., J.K. and Mercer, N. (2008) ‘Using the interactive

whiteboard to resource continuity and support multimodal teaching in a primary science

classroom’, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 5-25.

Gregory, E., Arju, T., Jessel, J., C. and Ruby, M. (2007) ‘Snow White in different

guises: interlingual and intercultural exchanges between grandparents and young

children at home in East London’, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, vol. 7, no. 5,

pp. 5-25.

Hall, J.K. (2012) Teaching and researching language and culture, 2nd edn, Abingdon,

Routledge.

Halliday, M.A.K. (1975) learning How to Mean: Explorations in the Development of

Language, London: Edward Arnold.

Ivanič, R., Edwards, R., Satchwell, C. and Smith, J. (2007) ‘Possibilities for

pedagogy in further education harnessing: harnessing the abundance of literacy’,

‘British Educational Research Journal, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 703–21.

Morita, N. (2004) ‘Negotiating participation and identity in second language

communities’, TESOL Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 573–603.

Seedhouse, D. (1998) Ethics: The Heart of Healthcare, 2nd edn, Chichester, Wiley.

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Shawer, S. (2010)’Communicative-based curriculum innovations between theory and

practice: implications for EFL curriculum development and student cognitive and

affective change’, Curriculum Journal, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 333–59.

Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010) ‘Learning in the home and at school: how working class

children “succeed against the odds”’, British Educational Research Journal, vol. 36,

no. 3, pp. 463–82.

Woydak, J. and Rampton, B. (2016) ‘Text trajectories in a multilingual call centre: the

linguistic ethnography of a calling script’, Language in Society vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 709–

32

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Appendix 1: Table 5.4 Overview of research questions, data and methods

Research question Data needed Data Data analysis Ethical issues /

collection method procedures

method

1 How does language Observation Audio and SFL register Masters in Education

develop in mother of mother. video analysis of ‘Ethics checklist’ to be

scaffolding in the recordings. what mother used.

context of book says

reading with a child (transcript). British Association of

during the second Multimodal Applied Linguistics

year of life as analysis of (BAAL) guidelines to

measured by Field notes by visual and professional ethics

systemic functional participant pragmatic adhered to.

linguistic and Impressions observer. features.

multimodal of mother Production of informed

analyses? regarding her Interview Qualitative consent forms with

scaffolding. analysis accompanying

information for mother

Written self- Diary and on behalf of child

reports by Qualitative

mother analysis

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Qualitative

analysis

2 How does language Observation Audio and SFL register As above.

develop in child of child. video analysis of

response in the recordings. what mother

context of book says

reading during the Field notes by (transcript).

second year of life participant Multimodal

as measured by observer. analysis of

systemic functional Impressions visual and

linguistic and of mother pragmatic

multimodal regarding Interview features.

analyses? child’s Possible

response inclusion of

Diary phonetic

Written analysis.

reports by

mother on

child.

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3 Is there evidence of Observation Identification Quantification

L2 (Spanish) use by of mother of L2 of L2

the child or his and child. instances in frequency use.

mother during the transcription.

book-reading Impressions

interaction? of mother Interview

regarding her

and child’s

L2 use:

change of

frequency of

use? Patterns

in when L2

used?

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Appendix 2 Ethics Checklist

Fill in section 1 of this document with your personal details and brief information about

your research.

For section 2, please assess your research using the following questions and click yes or

no as appropriate. If there is any possibility of significant risk please tick yes. Even if

your list contains all “no” you should still return your completed checklist so your

tutor/supervisor can assess the proposed research.

Section 1: Project details

a. STUDENT NAME MARTIN WILLIAM BYRNE

b. PI D7362662

INVESTIGATING MOTHER-CHILD BOOK-

c. PROJECT TITLE
READING INTERACTION

d. SUPERVISOR/TUTOR ESTHER ASPREY

MASTERS IN EDUCATION
e. QUALIFICATION
MASTERS IN CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

MA PATHWAY (WHERE
f. APPLIED LINGUISTICS
APPLICABLE)

INTENDED START DATE FOR

g. 22ND MARCH 2019
FIELDWORK

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 Martin William Byrne (D7362662) TMA02 EE819

INTENDED END DATE FOR

h. 26TH APRIL 2019
FIELDWORK

COUNTRY FIELDWORK

WILL BE CONDUCTED IN

If you are resident in the UK

i. SPAIN
and will be conducting your

research abroad please

check www.fco.gov.uk for

advice on travel.

Ye N/
Section 2: Ethics Assessment No
s A

Does your proposed research need initial clearance from a ‘gatekeeper’ (e.g. Local
1
Authority, head teacher, college head, nursery/playgroup manager)?

Have you checked whether the organisation requires you to undertake a ‘police
2 X
check’ or appropriate level of ‘disclosure’ before carrying out your research?1

Have you indicated how informed consent will be obtained from your participants

(including children less than 16 years old, school pupils and immediate family
3
members)? Your consent letters/forms must inform participants that they have the

right to withdraw from the study at any time.2

1
You must agree to comply with any ethical codes of practice in place within the organisation (e.g. educational institution, social
care setting or other workplace) in which your research will take place. If required an appropriate level of disclosure (‘police
check’) can obtained from the Disclosure and Barring Service (England and Wales), Disclosure Scotland, AccessNI (Northern
Ireland), Criminal Records Office (Republic of Ireland), etc.

2 This should normally involve the use of an information sheet about the research and what participation will involve, and a signed
consent form. You must allow sufficient time for potential participants to consider their decision between the giving of the
information sheet and the gaining of consent. No research should be conducted without the opt-in informed consent of
participants or their caregivers. In the case of children (individuals under 16 years of age) no research should be conducted
without a specified means of gaining their informed consent (or, in the case of young children, their assent) and the consent of

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 Martin William Byrne (D7362662) TMA02 EE819

a. Will your proposed research design mean that it will be necessary for

participants to take part in the study without their knowledge/consent at the

4
time (e.g. covert observation of people in non-public places)?

b. If so have you specified appropriate debriefing procedures? 3

a. Does your proposed design involve repetitive observation of participants, (i.e.

more than twice over a period of more than 2-3 weeks)?

5
b. If so, have you made appropriate provision for participants to renew consent or

withdraw from the study half-way through? 4

a. Are you proposing to collect video and/or audio data?

6 b. If so have you indicated how you will protect participants’ anonymity and

confidentiality and how you will store the data?

Does your proposal indicate how you will give your participants the opportunity to

7 access the outcomes of your research (including audio/visual materials) after they

have provided data?

Have you built in time to make sure that any task materials you propose to use are

8 age appropriate and that they are unlikely to cause offence to any of your

participants? This may involve a pilot study or consultation with your tutor.

their parents, caregivers, or guardians. This is particularly important if your project involves participants who are particularly
vulnerable or unable to give informed consent (e.g. children under 16 years, people with learning disabilities, or emotional
problems, people with difficulty in understanding or communication, people with identified health problems). There is additional
guidance on informed consent on the Masters in Education website under Project Resources.

3 Where an essential element of the research design would be compromised by full disclosure to participants, the withholding of
information should be specified in the project proposal and explicit procedures stated to obviate any potential harm arising from
such withholding. Deception or covert collection of data should only take place where it is essential to achieve the research results
required, where the research objective has strong scientific merit and where there is an appropriate risk management and harm
alleviation strategy.

4
Where participants are involved in longer-term data collection, the use of procedures for the renewal of consent at appropriate
times should be considered.

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 Martin William Byrne (D7362662) TMA02 EE819

a. Is your research likely to involve discussion of sensitive topics (e.g. adult/child

relationships, peer relationships, discussions about personal teaching styles, X

9
ability levels of individual children and/or adults)?

b. If so, have you put safeguards in place to protect participants’ confidentiality?

a. Does you proposed research raise any issues of personal safety for yourself or

other persons involved in the project?

1
b. If so, have you carried out a ‘risk analysis’ and/or discussed this with teachers,
0
parents and other adults involved in the research? If you tick ‘yes’, you must

contact your tutor to discuss how to address these issues.

a. Will your research project place an excessive burden on participants (i.e. in

terms of their time, travel costs, and so on?)

1
b. Do you believe that any inconvenience for your participants is offset by the
1
general good of the project to society and/or the personal benefits of the project

to the participants?

1 Will the study involve recruitment of patients or staff through the NHS or the use

2 of NHS data?5

5
If you answered ‘yes’ to questions 12, you will also have to submit an application to an appropriate National
Research Ethics Service ethics committee (http://www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk/

32