Chapter 4- Ethics in Research

Question 1

Research Ethics

Answer 1

concerns the responsibility of researchers to be honest and respectful to all individuals who are affected by their research studies or their reports of the studies’ results. Researchers are usually governed by a set of ethical guidelines that assist them to make proper decisions and choose proper actions. In psychological research, the American Psychological Association (APA) maintains a set of ethical principles for research (APA, 2002, 2010).

Question 1

Nuremberg Code

Answer 1

A set of 10 guidelines for the ethical treatment of human participants in research. Developed from the Nuremberg Trials in 1947; laid the groundwork for the current ethical standards for medical and psychological research.

Question 2

APA Ethics code

Answer 2

A common set of principles and standards on which psychologists build their professional and scientific work. This code is intended to provide specific standards that cover most situations encountered by psychologists. Its primary goal is the welfare and protection of the individuals and groups with whom psychologists work.

Question 3

Informed consent

Answer 3

requires the investigator to provide all available information about a study so that an individual can make a rational, informed decision to participate in the study.

Question 4

Deception

Answer 4

occurs when a researcher purposefully withholds information or misleads participants with regard to information about a study. There are two forms of deception: passive and active.

Question 5

Passive Deception (or omission)

Answer 5

is the withholding or omitting of information; the researcher intentionally does not tell participants some information about the study.

Question 6

Active deception (or comission)

Answer 6

the presenting of misinformation about the study to participants. The most common form of active deception is misleading participants about the specific purpose of the study.

Question 7

debriefing

Answer 7

a post-experimental explanation of the purpose of a study that is given to a participant, especially if deception was used.

Question 8

Confidentiality

Answer 8

the practice of keeping strictly secret and private the information or measurements obtained from an individual during a research study.

Question 9

Anonymity

Answer 9

the practice of ensuring that an individuals name is not directly associated with the information or measurements obtained from that individual

Question 10

The Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Answer 10

a committee that examines all proposed research with respect to its treatment of human participants. IRB approval must be obtained before any research is conducted with human participants.

Question 11

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

Answer 11

a committee that examines all proposed research with respect to its treatment of human participants. IRB approval must be obtained before any research is conducted with human participants.

Question 12

Fraud

Answer 12

is the explicit effort of a researcher to falsify or misrepresent data.

Question 13

Replication

Answer 13

the repetition of a research study using the same basic procedures used in the original. Either the replication supports the original study by duplicating the original results, or it casts doubt on the original study by demonstrating that the original result is not easily repeated.

Question 14

Plagiarism

Answer 14

the unethical representation of someone else’s ideas or words as one’s own