Page 345 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

education. Data saturation is used to obtain sufficient information in

qualitative research to cover the main research objectives.

Accordingly, a sample consisting of 04 male and 11 female participants aged

18 and above identified as undergraduate students with disabilities at a public

university in Sri Lanka was selected using the snowball sampling method.
Students with partial visual impairment and locomotor disabilities participated

in this. Male students with disabilities involved in this study were used to
comparatively investigate whether mainstream students have greater access to

sexual and reproductive health education due to their gender and disability
status.

A study group was formed, and the leading researcher occasionally contacted

the students who participated in this study to guide them to university
education before the study. It was possible to reduce the problems of dealing

with a sensitive topic and to build research trust in that relationship.
Researchers were aware of the limitations of telephonic interviews, noticing

visual cues and non-verbal information. Based on the research problems and

objectives, the telephonic interview method was chosen regarding
accessibility, convenience for participants, and any other relevant factors.

During the Covid-19 period in January and February 2022, the option of
conducting telephonic interviews was considered. Therefore, the respondents

were selected from university students with disabilities and their friends

belonging to the study as mentioned in the above group. The students involved
in the study were from the faculty of the University of Colombo.

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