| Date | May 2018 | Marks available | 10 | Reference code | 18M.Paper 3.HL.TZ0.1 |
| Level | HL only | Paper | Paper 3 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | Explain | Question number | 1 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
The stimulus material below is based on a research article that addresses participants’ motivation to participate in “extreme sports”.
Extreme sports are physical activities that are dangerous and may result in serious injury or even death. Researchers are interested in why people would be willing to participate in activities that are dangerous, although at this stage there is not yet much qualitative research in this area.
The aim of this qualitative study was to explore motivations for taking part in sky diving or mountaineering (mountain climbing).
Five males and three females who practise sky diving or mountaineering were recruited for the study. An ethics committee approved the research and all participants signed informed consent before the study. They were also asked to choose another name, which would be used to refer to them in the final report.
A semi-structured interview was carried out with each participant. Each interview lasted an hour and took place in locations that each participant chose. The interviews were audio-recorded and then transcribed verbatim before conducting an inductive content analysis (thematic analysis).
The inductive content analysis of the transcripts showed the following themes related to motivation:
• the challenge of pushing themselves beyond their existing mental and physical limits
• striving for achievement and mastery of their sport
• the feeling of getting better at their sport worked as a reward for the participants
• the feeling of “being in the present” and clearing all other thoughts from their mind
• experiencing pleasurable feelings such as excitement or “adrenaline rush”
• accepting suffering and physical injury as part of the experience of doing extreme sports.
The researchers concluded that the participants’ own explanations suggest that pushing one’s limits and striving for achievement are major motivational factors that outweigh the possible risks involved in taking part in extreme sports.
Carla Willig, A phenomenological investigation of the experience of taking part in ‘extreme sports’ in
Journal of Health Psychology, vol 13(5), pp. 698-699, copyright © 2008 by SAGE Publications.
Reprinted by Permission of SAGE Publications, Ltd.
Explain two or more ethical considerations relevant to this study.
Markscheme
Refer to the paper 3 markbands when awarding marks.
The command term “explain” requires candidates to give a detailed account, including reasons, for the relevance of two or more ethical considerations to the study.
Responses that use the term “experiment” as a generic term for “study” should not be penalized.
Relevant ethical considerations in this study could include, but are not limited to:
• Anonymity/confidentiality: An important ethical consideration in all research is to guarantee anonymity/confidentiality. The eight participants in this study were asked to come up with another name to use in the research report. This indicates that the researchers have ensured anonymity as the participants appear under a different name – and furthermore, a name that they have chosen themselves. Candidates may elaborate on this and say that due to the small number of participants and because very few people are involved in extreme sports it is possible that the participants may all know each other. It may therefore be difficult to achieve total anonymity but the researchers have done what they could to ensure that the identities of the participants were not revealed in the final report.
• Research ethics committee: According to the stimulus material an ethics committee approved the study. This is a standard procedure to ensure ethical standards are in line with ethical guidelines (eg American Psychological Association) in research involving human participants, for example ensuring that individuals receive sufficient information and that appropriate strategies are in place to protect participants from potential damaging effects of the research. It is also important that there is no conflict of interest between participants and the researcher. The interests of the participants always come first and it is obvious from the stimulus material that the researchers in this study took great care to ensure that the study was ethically sound.
• Informed consent: In the stimulus material, it is stated that all participants signed informed consent before the study began. This is an important ethical consideration that includes that participants are fully informed about the purpose of the study, benefits of the research, right to confidentiality and participants' rights, for example, that they can withdraw their data at any point. Such considerations may also be explained as separate ethical considerations by candidates and receive marks.
• The participants in this study were also invited to choose the location of the interview themselves so that they could feel comfortable and safe during the interview. Candidates may relate this to part of the informed consent or protection/ensuring the wellbeing of participants.
Candidates may refer to ethical considerations taken by the researcher in the study in the stimulus material and/or considerations that could have been taken. Both approaches are equally acceptable.
Candidates may explain two ethical considerations in order to demonstrate depth of knowledge, or may explain a larger number of ethical considerations in order to demonstrate breadth of knowledge. Both approaches are equally acceptable.
If a candidate explains only one ethical consideration, apply the markbands up to a maximum of [5].
