RESEARCH METHOD
To meet the objective of this qualitative research, the components of this study are groups of informants, data collection, access to the target groups, data validation, and data analysis.
1. Informants
The informants were individuals involved in the problem of unplanned pregnancy among youths in school which could be divided into five groups as follows. A group of six female youths who had unplanned pregnancy, a group of three parents of the female youths who had unplanned pregnancy, a group of two teachers and a school director, a group of six former school friends of the female youths who had unplanned pregnancy, and the last one was an official of a Sub-district Health Promotion Hospital. Youths who had unplanned pregnancy were selected using purposive sampling; they were female youths who had unplanned pregnancy when they were still students aged 18-24 in a school in the study area. Most of them were pregnant when they were in Mathayom 5 or Mathayom 6 (Grade 11 or 12). One female student who had unplanned pregnancy was in Mathayom 2 (Grade 8). These informants of the target group were selected by the researcher, a teacher and the official of the Sub-district Health Promotion Hospital.
2. Data collection
Data were collected through in-depth interviews from November to December 2015, and the interview with each informant lasted from about 30 to 60 minutes. The interview was semi-structured to reduce stress and to make it friendly so as to obtain data that were complete and meet the objective of the research.
3. Access to the target group
The researcher asked the teacher in the school and the official of the Sub-district Health Promotion Hospital to contact and coordinate with the youths who had unplanned pregnancy to ask whether they would be willing to give information to the researcher, and to make appointments with them in advance.
4. Data validation
Data were validated using internal audit. Validation was performed with the informants, interview questions and answers to ensure that they covered the objective of the study. Congruence of answers, interviewee’s gestures during the interview and the context were also assessed (Chai Phodhisita, 2011).
5. Data analysis
The data were categorized according to the study issues, analyzed and interpreted according to the objective of the study and concepts, and then presented using analytical description.
Rights of informants
Before the interviews, the researcher informed the target group about their rights to either participate or not participate in the study. They could refuse not to give information and they had the right to change their mind during the interview and stop the interview at any time without being affected, and their personal information would not be revealed because all information and data would be presented as overall data or overall information, and pseudonyms, not their real names, would be used.
PROTECTION OF INFORMANTS’ RIGHTS
For this research, the informants’ rights were protected according to research ethics proposed by Thada Sueblinwong (2008) as follows.
1. Respect for the person or respect for human dignity—For this research, the informants were asked for permission, and whether the informants would give information on certain issues depended on their willingness. They were informed that all information and data given to the researcher would be kept confidential so as not to damage their reputation. Moreover, the information and data would be presented as overall data and their real names would not be used.
2. Beneficence and non-maleficence—Highest benefits of the informants and society as a whole were taken into consideration. Therefore, the research was conducted in congruence with the study area, and in such a way that minimally affected the informants’ work or study.
3. Justice—The research was carried out transparently and informants were given justice. For example, they were informed about the goal and objective of the research, and they could always ask about the design and details of the study. All information recorded and all photos taken were performed according to willingness of the informants.