Phase I: Pre-intervention procedures

3.8.1 Phase I: Pre-intervention procedures

The first phase of the pre-intervention procedures included:

1. Recruiting subjects and the signing of parental consent forms;

2. Familiarization sessions of researcher with the subjects;

3. Completing pre-intervention questionnaire.

These steps will be now described in detail.

3.8.1.1 Recruiting subjects

The process of recruiting the subjects took place in two stages:

1. Young deaf children with CI and their parents were referred by the staff of the three educational settings (section 3.3) according to the inclusion criteria set by the researcher (section 3.2). At this stage, the researcher had met with the parents and explained the goal of the study, procedures, possible benefits for the child, as well as ethics and confidentiality. The parents were also given a detailed information sheet (Appendix B).

2. Parents who expressed their interest in the study were first asked to complete a questionnaire called “The Infant/Toddler’s Sensory Profile” (Dunn, 1997; see Appendix F). This was introduced as an additional step in the screening process (section 3.3.2), before the trials began because the staff in the different settings expressed their strong interest and eagerness to include as many children as possible in this study. Therefore, when referring a child as a potential candidate, they sometimes tended to minimize the information in the personal file of any child with certain problems that might make him/her ineligible for acceptance into the study. Due to the fact that the mothers had more daily contact with their children than the fathers, they were better able to answer the questions and they were the ones who actually completed the questionnaire. They completed the questionnaire within a week. The researcher scored the responses on the questionnaire and only children who scored within the normal range participated in this study (Appendix G). The parents of the suitable children indicated their willingness to participate in the study by signing consent forms (Appendix C). Four families signed the video consent forms as well. One family signed the video consent form only partially. They did not agree to have the video material used for teaching and lecturing purposes or for research publications, but solely for analyzing the data.

The field work lasted more than 1.5 years. The reason for this was that only at

“Micha” Tel Aviv could the researcher work with two children during the same period of time and on the same day. This was not the case with the two children at

“Shemaya” in B’nei B’rak and the child at “Micha” Haifa, due to the fact that each of the three children in the above named pre-schools started the trials at a different point of time, when their hearing level reached the prerequisite of 40 dB with the CI.

3.8.1.2 Familiarization sessions

Due to the young age of the children (two-three years of age), it was necessary to develop trust and security with them before the commencement of the study. Thus, the research trials were preceded by a familiarization stage of two sessions- one session a week. It was limited to two sessions to avoid working into a developing relationship, a fact that could affect the study results. There was a dilemma whether to

hold the familiarization sessions at home or at the children's nursery schools where they were treated. After a discussion with the principals of the different nursery schools, it was decided to hold these sessions at the nursery school due to a host of issues related to the families.

The researcher attended the nursery school for each hour-long session during the free play time of the children. Her approach was neutral, without promoting any communication but rather ‘being together’ and establishing herself as a non-threatening person for the child.

3.8.1.3 Pre-intervention questionnaire

The last stage prior to beginning of the research clinical trials was the pre-intervention questionnaire. As previously mentioned (section 3.4.2), the purpose of this questionnaire was to provide some information regarding the child’s music-related behaviors/experiences at home since the child was implanted.

There are four common options to administer a questionnaire: (1) sending it to the respondent and receiving it back by post/mail, (2) by phone, (3) completing it individually in a group, in the presence of the researcher or his/her representative, and (4) completing it face-to-face. Obviously, each has advantages and disadvantages.

Option #2 was rejected since it did not enable the relaxed time needed to complete the questionnaire. In addition, expressing oneself through the written word is a different experience than using the spoken word. Although responding in writing usually takes longer than doing it by phone, it allows the parent to find a familiar, comfortable atmosphere in which to think and write. It also requires the respondent to feel more obligated regarding the words he/she puts down on paper, than when responding quickly on the phone. The phone can often evoke stress both in regard to expressing oneself and in the lack of privacy a parent might be experiencing at home. Since parents, particularly those with many children as two families in this study, often have a hectic life, completing the questionnaire on their own within the span of two weeks, enabled the parents to choose when to do it and how much at a time. Option #3 was unrealistic, due to technical difficulties concerned with having the parents meet at a specific time and on a specific date. The last option- completing the questionnaires face-to-face (option #4) seemed too time consuming and costly. The preferred way in this study was similar to option #1, but instead of sending it by post/mail, the researcher gave the questionnaires to the parents by hand, since she met them in the

educational settings where the children were treated. The researcher explained the procedure and all the relevant information to the parents. This information was written in the questionnaire as well. The parents were asked to take the questionnaire home and complete it to the best of their ability. They were invited to call the researcher if they found any of the questions unclear.

The advantages of the way the questionnaires were administered are as follows:

• Saving time and money;

• Avoiding personal bias which results from the relationship between the researcher and the respondent during the process of completing the questionnaire, i.e., the respondent does not necessarily feel either the necessity to respond to the interviewer's expectations or to make an impression on him/her.

Regarding the disadvantages-

• The respondent may not fully understand some of the questions although they were phrased as clearly as possible as well as pre-tested.

• In the absence of the interviewer, the respondent may read all the questions before answering the whole questionnaire and thus, the order planned by the interviewer loses its impact.

• Lack of relationship between the respondent and the interviewer may lessen the respondent's willingness to answer the questionnaire as precisely and deeply as possible, especially in regards to questions which require more thought. Such relationship, which is built in a face-to-face administration of the questionnaire, results from the interviewer's characteristics which may affect the interviewee, such as his/her behavior, appearance, tone of voice, social status, motives, maturity, intelligence, attitudes and expectations (Beyth-Marom, 1986).

Each questionnaire was separately completed by the mother and father in order to get each one's independent perspective. The questionnaires were completed within two weeks prior to the beginning of the study (Appendix I- I1, I2).