0.1. Ethical Issues Flashcards
What is the BPS?
The British Psychological society
What did the BPS do?
They developed the code of ethics
The code of ethics
- to protect the welfare of ppts
- to be a framework to follow
- to promote professional standards
- to guide decisions about professional practice
What does the ethics committee do?
Reviews all research proposed to ensure it’s ethical before the research is conducted
Cost-benefit meaning
The benefit (knowledge gained) must outweigh the costs (physical/psychological damage to ppts/ society)
Informed consent description
Ppts must be told what they will be doing and why they’re doing it so they can provide “informed consent”
Informed consent ‘how to deal with it’
- Ppts give agreement to participate
- Researchers can offer right to withdraw
- Can get presumptive consent instead- asking people whether they think a study is acceptable
Informed consent limitations
- ppts may not 100% know what they’ve let themselves in for
- presumptive consent- people thinking and experiencing is very different
Deception description
- ppts should not be deceived unless absolutely necessary
- if deception is required, great care and consideration must be given to experiment
- ppts to be told at the end of the debrief
How to deal with deception
- if deception is used, the ethics committee has to approve it and weigh up the cost-benefit
- ppts should be fully debriefed
Deception limitations
- cost-benefit decisions are flawed as they involve subjective judgements
- costs are not always apparent
- debriefing doesn’t change the results
Right to withdraw description
- ppts should be free to leave the experiment at any time, or withdraw data up to 4 weeks after the experiment
How to deal with right to withdraw
- all ppts should be informed before the study that they have the right to withdraw
Right to withdraw limitations
- ppts may feel they cannot withdraw
Protection from harm description
- the safety and wellbeing of the ppt must be protected at all times, both physically and psychologically
How to deal with protection from harm
- avoid risks greater than everyday life
Protection from harm limitations
- researchers are’t always able to predict the risks
Confidentiality description
- any information and data provided by the ppt must be kept confidential
How to deal with confidentiality
Numbers/ false names should replace ppt names
Confidentiality limitations
- sometimes it’s quite clear who ppts are
E.g. research conducted at a school
Privacy description
- don’t invade the body or mind of ppts (questionnaires and interviews)
How to deal with privacy
- Only observe in public places unless consent sought
- ppts could be asked to give retrospective consent
Privacy limitations
- There is no universal agreement about what constitutes a public place
- not everyone thinks this is acceptable
What is a consent form?
Given at the start to obtain permission
What goes in a consent form?
- aim of study
- task/ task time
- risks
- confidentiality- reminder
- right to withdraw
- any questions
- a place to obtain consent
When is a debrief form given?
At the end of research to ppts
What goes into a debrief form?
- aim or purpose
- deception (if used state why)
- support needs to be offered (see Mrs Hobson in student support)
- confidentiality
- right to withdraw- data can be withdrawn up to 2 weeks after
- any questions?
