Ethical Implications

Question 1

Ethical implications

Answer 1

the consequences of any research in terms of the effects on individual participants

Question 2

Social sensitivity

Answer 2

Sieber & Stanley - research that has consequences for participants or groups they represent

Question 3

Some areas have greater social sensitivity than others (Memory/Depression)

Answer 3

Research on long-term memory in a student population is unlikely to have consequences for individual participants or for the broader social groups that they represent

→ To contrast - study on depression may have consequences in terms of participants and group they represent

EG - participant may reveal personal info that is later accessed by prospective employer
EG - findings suggest depressed people never fully recover therefore are a risk as employee

Question 4

Implications for the research process

Answer 4

All psychological research has potential consequences but this applies to socially sensitive research in particular - therefore all stages of planning & conducting studies are important when thinking of social sensitivity, as well as later in handling the findings

Question 5

Research question

Answer 5

Sieber & Stanley - warn the way in which research questions are raised may influence ways findings are interpreted

EG - Kitzniger & Coyle - ‘alternative relationships’ has heteroseuxal bias where homosexual relationships were compared and judged against heterosexual norms

Question 6

Dealing with participants

Answer 6

Issues such as informed consent, confidentiality & psychological harm may be especially important on socially sensitive research

EG - domestic abuse study, participants may may worry about confidentiality

Question 7

The way findings are used

Answer 7

Research should consider in advance how research findings may be used
May impact what data they actually collect

Important as findings from research may been seen as giving scientific credence to existing prejudices
Also sensitive info is exactly what media tend to be interested in and will publicise

Question 8

Ethical issues in socially sensitive research

Answer 8

Identified by Sieber and Stanley, and should be kept in mind when conducting socially sensitive research:

Implications:
- the possible consequences of research findings, for example, if they could be used to justify prejudice and discrimination

Public policy:
- consider what the research findings may be used for, for example could the government use the findings for any reason?

Validity of research
- be aware of personal values and possible biases. Many researchers who undertake socially sensitive research will consider these issues when reporting their findings (being ‘reflexive’)

Question 9

Evaluation

Answer 9

Undertaking socially sensitive research has benefits
- EG - enhancing understanding of the experiences of minority groups,
-EG uncovering the lack of accuracy of eyewitness testimony).

Counter: Researching minority groups may bring similar problems to that of cross-cultural studies, for example, the researcher’s own world view becomes ‘the norm’ and the minority group’s experiences are seen as ‘inferior/deviant’.

Once research is published, the effects can be long-lasting, even if it is then discredited. For example, the psychologist Cyril Burt published findings suggesting that intelligence is inherited, leading to the separation of children based on their ability once they had completed an intelligence test at age 11 (the ’11+’, which decided if a child went to a grammar school or not). Burt’s findings were later found to have been based on invented data, but the test remained in place for a long time afterwards, and the idea that there is a ‘natural’ level of intelligence still remains amongst many people. This shows the potential consequences of socially sensitive research.