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Ethical Considerations
This study was conducted as prescribed by the Institutional Review Board at San
Francisco State University, upholding the strictest protocol methods to ensure participant
confidentiality and protection of human subjects. I presented all participants with a copy of the
informed consent letter explaining the purpose,
procedures, risk, and their right to withdraw from
the study at any time (see Appendix B). In reporting and discussing the data,
data analysis,
findings, participants’ names, institutions, and any identifiable information have been changed to
protect the identity of the participants.
Although strict measures were taken to protect the participants’ identities, the study did
involve minimal potential risk of loss of privacy. To
minimize this risk, as soon as each
interview transcription was completed, I deleted the original audiovisual recording from the hard
drive and ensured no copy was stored in the Zoom cloud storage system. Using password-
protected files accessible only to me as
the sole researcher, as Bogdan and Biklen (2007)
recommend, all transcripts and electronic documents were stored in a password-protected Box
account provided by San Francisco State University.
Because participants have the right to anonymity indefinitely, all recruitment scripts,
demographics surveys, consent forms, and communication exchanges via email emphasized the
voluntary nature of their participation in the study. I did not communicate with any of the
participants in person. Furthermore, I made sure participants understood their right to decline to
answer any of my questions and their right to terminate the interviews at any time for any reason
without consequences.
