Participating

Anthropological research is reciprocal. This study is a balance of observation and participation over a prolonged period of time to build an interpretation and analysis that is co-owned with those involved and built from authentic practices and lived experiences.

Participants of this study share their insider perspectives and educate me on the meanings surrounding what I am observing.

Transparency & General Data Protection Regulation compliance

Read below to understand how data will be collected, stored, and used during and on completion of this study.

You can download the Health Research Authority's document outlining how health researchers use patient information by clicking the grey download icon below:

The University of Kent's 'Privacy Notice For Research' explains how the university remains compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and upholds the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research. This notice can be downloaded by clicking on the blue download icon below:

Observations

What's being recorded?

Throughout the study, I will be on the ward for up to five hours at a time, based in different locations or focussing on particular areas of interest.

During these visits, I will be observing general happenings and inviting people to share their views to understand how spaces, objects, acts, activities, events, time, actors, goals, and feelings intersect and coalesce into enactments of expertise and experiences of care.

No personal identifiable information is recorded without consent.

At the start of each visit, approval to commence will be requested from the health professional(s) in charge of the shift. This is to ensure that it is appropriate for fieldwork to occur and will not disrupt the delivery of services.

Contributing to the Ethnographic Database

Who may participate in this study?

Patients, their families, and other carers who are receiving services at the ward

NHS staff members completing duties at the ward

Those working for external organisations who are currently contracted to or visiting the ward for a purpose relating to care delivery

All participants who contribute cases or engage in study activities must be aged 16+ and meet one of the above criteria within the last 3 months.

Case files

How are my contributions stored?

Participants share their perspectives, experiences, and guide the study by building case files.

Case files are collections of contributions and observations connected to a single participant
Different types of contributions and observations are assigned unique codes. These codes distinguish fieldnotes (observations and informal chats), transcriptions of interviews, pictures of art, and demographic data that is shared.
Codes are connected by a single reference number in a separate cipher document.
Reference numbers link to the participation consent forms and pseudonymise the identity of participants during the study

Confidentiality

Connecting the data allows for a detailed analysis, comparison, and interpretation of the relationships between cases and how the cases transform over time. The data storage methods outlined above aim to enable this analysis while protecting individuals' identities during and after the study.

Once the study, analysis, and required invigilation or auditing processes are complete, the cipher will be deleted. This will permanently anonymise all of the data collected and prevent any inferential identification of participants. The different types of contributions provided by individuals will become disconnected within the database.

The database will be reviewed and cleansed of any potentially identifiable details. These details will be either removed (where they are irrelevant to the topics and their removal does not distort the empirical facts of what occurred) or obscured using mechanisms such as false names or composite characters (a character created to express the views or experiences of multiple participants).

Confidentiality will not be upheld where an intention or action to harm themselves or others is disclosed or observed. In such an instance the researcher may be both legally and morally obligated to act on this information to prevent harm.

Only the researcher will have access to the complete dataset during the study
The study's academic supervisory team of four professional Anthropologists at the University of Kent will have access to the pseudonymised data during the study
Once the study is complete, the anonymised and cleansed ethnographic database will be provided to the Trust's Research and Development department and the Centre for Ethnographic Research. The database will be stored in the academic repository at the University of Kent