In August 2012 the Researcher, Alexander Hayes (student) and the Chief Investigator and Supervisor Associate Professor Katina Michael made application to the University of Wollongong (UOW) through the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)  to conduct the research project titled  ‘Location Enabled Body Wearable Technologies in the Education Sector’.

To conduct this research the UOW HREC ‘Application For approval To Undertake Research Involving Human Participants’ details that the researchers abide by the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research as well as abiding by the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. 

The application was submitted signed under clauses of confidentiality to the Human Research Ethics Committee of The University of Wollongong/SESIAHS written by the Researcher detailing the project, with a written response identifying the project number HE12/374 received soon after. The initial duration of research sought for the research project was from the 1st October 2012 to the 1st December 2012

“…The study will identify the breadth and scope of the use of location enabled body wearable technologies across a range of settings, which the participants are known to have experience and expertise within. The study will also identify the key implications that these technologies have as they impact more broadly on society in general.” - UOW HREC Application

The qualitative research project was proposed to only involve adults over the age of 18, conducted as semi-structured interviews either in face-to-face or by telephone abiding by the UOW Telephone Policy and Strict protocols of communication as outlined by UOW Research Policy with twenty-five (25) participants.

Formal invitations were sent as written communication with prospective interview participants, then upon confirmation of acceptance to contribute to the project as a Participant, the Participant Pack was sent by email attachment containing Participant Consent, Project Information Sheet, Project Invitation Letter, Research Methods, Methodology and Interview Questions. Participants were informed they could submit supplementary material adding to the amassed data collation during or after Interviews. 

The preference for conducting the interviews was indicated to the Participants selected as a face-to-face meetings, with questions already supplied before interview. An indication was also made to Participants that the interview duration was estimated to take between 60 and 90 minutes, in a one-to-one setting involving no groups and would be recorded using an audio device for transcription purpose only with their consent.

Participants were told that were free to withdraw anytime from the project, to withdraw any supplementary materials at anytime with no payments or reward for their voluntary contribution.

Upon completion of the interview audio data was to be submitted into a secure data repository and only Supervisor and Researcher have access to the data. Participants were advised that they had  

7 days to respond with amendments to the interview transcripts draft  in preparation for the transcript final. 

As per UOW HREC guidelines, participants can add supplementary material up until end of research study, that private data retention must be kept for ten years post interview and all correspondence must be conducted using secure digital correspondence forms only.

Participants were also informed and were required to agree to being informed of publication in thesis and that their contributions may possibly appear in future publications. 

Questions were asked of the Researcher by both research Participants and other researchers who indicated the paradox of the statement in the HREC application indicating that “…Data held during this project will be securely held in a private, redundant protected private password protected digital repository. The data will be stored in Building 39, Office 206C, Wollongong Campus, Australia.“ - UOW HREC Application

The Researcher was then required to meet with UOW Statistical Consulting Service and outline the requirements of the project with the SCS team.

“…The objective of this study is to investigate individuals’ awareness of and acceptance for Location-Based Services (LBS) as an attribute of body worn location enabled technologies in the education sector. A focus of this research will be upon a identifying the core impacts and implications of LBS for the education and training sector in Australia. “ - Purpose of Study - Statistical Project Description

The study Design of the research project was described as, “…the study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the research questions. A structured survey and semi-structured interviews will form the basis of the data collection for this study. The outcomes of the interviews with key players in the education and technology provision supply chain will further inform and complement survey results from a wider stakeholder array.”  - Statistical Project Description

The Research Model theorises that “…service access, ease of use, organisational readiness, identity, trust, and perceived risk as the key variables of attitude that govern use and intention to use of body worn location enabled technologies in an educational context. Surveys will be conducted online using a closed, question field survey tool. The survey results will confirm or refute the collusion between service providers, research bodies and educational organisations, providing primary evidence to support or contradict the research hypotheses. Semi-structured interviews will also be conducted with key contacts from select vocational and tertiary organisations, technology suppliers and LBS providers Interviews will enable this research to address some of the research issues, which remain unanswerable by the quantitative method. “ - Statistical Project Description

The Data Analyses was inclusive of quantitative descriptive statistics to be “… used to summarise the demographic variables. Simple linear regression, multiple regressions, analyses of variance (ANOVA), and other relevant statistical tests will be used to analyse the sample data and to test the hypotheses associated with the research model. Content analysis techniques will be used to analyse data obtained from the semi-structured interviews.” Data Analyses - Statistical Project Description

An initial HREC review conducted on the 20th September approved the project pending changes to the Participant Information Sheet and Consent form, with track changes showing how interviews in part might become used in future publications such as peer reviewed journal articles.

Changes were returned to UOW Human Research Ethics Committee including (a) name of participant and affiliation to be requested; (b) audio-visual recording to be securely data managed and (c) that any supplementary material supplied to the Researchers can be withdrawn by the Participant up until final publication of the thesis.

Project HE12/374 was approved on the 11th October 2012 and expiry date was noted on the 10 October 2013 with Progress Reports to meet HREC requirements.

A Proposed Changes Letter was drafted on the 20th May 2013 and a further request for Amendment to Approved Application was registered with the Human Research Ethics Committee on the 24th May 2013 by the Supervisor.

“…The researchers, Associate Professor Katina Michael (Chief Investigator & Supervisor) and Mr Alexander Hayes (student) will both attend the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) is an annual international forum sponsored by the IEEE Society on the Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) to be held in Toronto, Canada, 27-29 June 2013. ISTAS13 is the annual symposium of the IEEE Society on the Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) which dates back to 1989.” - Proposed Changes Letter 

 The first proposed change was to conduct research activities as participant observer using a moderate participation research methodology. 

“… According to Spradley (1980) a researcher must make a choice between five different types of participant observation which include (a) Non-Participatory, (b) Passive Participation, (c) Moderate Participation, (d) Active Participation or (e) Complete Participation.”  - Proposed Changes Letter

The researchers proposed to engage with the research population as (c) moderate participation maintaining a role balance between "insider" and "outsider" which would allow for a good combination of personal involvement and necessary detachment to remain objective.

“…Considering the delegate cohort (target population) attending this important event, the researchers consider that recording audio and visual media prior, during and after this event to be important and relevant to the research inquiry.“ - Proposed Changes Letter

Interactions to be recorded as a participant observer whilst interacting with the research target population using audio recording (Footnote: Zoom H4N Pro Audio Recorder) recording and visual photo camera (Footnote: Sensecam Vicon Revue / Memoto Lifelogging Camera)

The second point of amendment was proposed to publish data gathered during participant observer research activity via approved data repositories. 

“…It is proposed that all audio-visual data recorded by both researchers as moderate participant observers be published under a CC By Creative Commons licence in the form of a managed data collection as an output and at the conclusion of the research project. The researchers believe that data publication via a data repository ensures the collection is a managed, connected, findable and re-usable research resource.” - Proposed Changes Letter

The repositories that were proposed to be used were; (a) DataWise which is a University of Wollongong project, a cooperative venture between the University's Research Services Office, the University Library and Information Technology Services (ITS) where research metadata is populated via Research Data Australia (RDA) and the Australian National Data Services (ANDS); (b) Figshare, which is a secure scientific data repository that allows users to upload any file format to be made visualisable in a browser so that figures, datasets, media, papers, posters, presentations and filesets are disseminated and dataset awarded a DOI upon submission; (c) Academia.edu which is a site for researchers to share their data and code attached to Academia.edu’s analytics engine with viewing analytics for citation, tenure and grant committee visibility.

It was well established that many of the target research population will be familiar with and perhaps also actively engaging with each other and the researchers using audio-visual digital recording technologies ie. life-logging devices at the ISTAS’13 event.

In summary, the Research Methods Amendment was sought to conduct research activities as a participant observer, in a closed conference setting approaching interviewees at the ISTAS13 Conference, 27- 29 June, 2013. 

“… The Researchers are proposing to engage with conference delegates (target population) during this important event, considered relevant to the research inquiry. ISTAS13 delegates have been provided with an opportunity themselves as a Delegate to wear an audio-visual recording device that can be used for the duration of the conference.”  Amendment - Method of Approaching Interview Stakeholders In A Conference Setting 

The data collection methodology clearly outlined that there were no changes to the original HREC HE12/374 application other than to wear signage or indicate that ISTAS’13 delegates could be approached after seeking verbal consent to participant in a semi-structured interview.

A letter outlining results of an Amendments Review, conducted on the 30th May 2013 was received by HREC and granted conditional on answering and making amendments with regards to participants ‘confidentiality’. In response, a letter sent on the 31st May 2013 from the Supervisor to Associate Professor Garr Hoban outlined that participants would be identified in publications and the thesis proper, that affiliations would be removed as a record in the transcripts and that Participants would only be identified upon thesis publication.

On the 6th June a further review was conducted by the HREC and the Committee approval was again made conditional to changes to the Participant Information Sheet regarding identification of participants being treated in the strictest of confidence.

Note the paradox here that ISTAS’13 recordings did not require a consent form rather personal spoken and visual sign notification in person.

A further response from Supervisor, Associate Professor Katina Michael indicated a return to participants notifying at the point of interview whether they wished to be identified or not. A final Amendment Notification was received on the 13th June 2013 for approval to record semi-structured interviews with audio/visual recording devices during the ISTAS’13 conference, revised Participant Information Sheet (12th June 2013) and revised Consent Form (12th June 2013)

 The expiry date for the project was not altered from 10th October 2013 with an anticipated completion date noted as July 2015.

A project Progress Report was completed in late October 2013 and returned to the UOW HREC indicating that fifty (50) interviews had been conducted in total, the first interview on the 15th October 2012 and the last interview on the 9th October 2013, in compliance with the approved project parameters.

The Progress report was returned to the UOW HREC Committee within 14 days and no reports of unexpected outcomes nor new requirements were foreseen for UOW HREC near future review.