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EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES teachers. Reliability in guantitative research refers to whether the item scores of an instrument are internally consistent, meaning the item responses are consistent across constructs (Creswell—Creswell 2018); it is the quantitative counterpart of dependability. In order to ensure reliability in the quantitative studies (questionnaires), the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to ensure the reliability of the questionnaires; in addition, earlier theoretical and validated empirical studies were also consulted, and certain constructs were adopted from these empirical studies. Last but not least, objectivity in quantitative research refers to what extent the analysis is affected by the researcher’s personal beliefs and feelings (Cohen et al. 2018); this is the quantitative counterpart of confirmability. Objectivity was ensured by involving external researchers in the research at the stage when the obtained results were interpreted. 3.4 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Ethical issues concerning this research project include the problem of the amount of shared information about the research, the anonymity of the participants, the issue of potentially sensitive information, data storage, and the consent of students’ parents and teachers to participate in the research (Cohen et al. 2018, Dörnyei 2007). Firstly, the issue of the amount of shared information was addressed. It is important to share some information with the participants about the research project; however, too little shared information is unethical, and too much information shared could result in response bias or non-participation. Iherefore, participants were informed about the purpose ofthe study and its significance with the possible pedagogical pay-off, too. Another important aspect was to ensure the anonymity of the participants throughout the whole research project (Cohen et al. 2018). The questionnaires were anonymous, and pseudonyms were used in the interview study so that the identity of the participants could not be traced back. A closely related issue was the handling of the collected data. The voice recordings with their transcripts were stored on a separate USB stick to which only I had access. The data was stored until June 2022; then, the USB stick was formatted, i.e., all information was deleted. Any sensitive information I learned about the participants in the research process is kept confidential in the future as well and will not be shared with a third party. Last but not least, Study Two was conducted with secondary school students but was a questionnaire study; therefore, there was no need for individual parental consent as the data to be collected were not sensitive (cf. Johnson— Christensen 2019). However, headmasters and form teachers were consulted, “62°
