ethical implications of research studies & theory Flashcards
what do ethical implications concern
consequences that psychological research may have
describe ethical implications & social sensitivity
some areas of research have greater social sensitivity:
- eg. research on LTM in student population unlikely to have consequences for individual participants/broader social groups the participants represent & unlikely to be consequences for social policy
- eg. study on depression may have consequences for individual participants, wider social group they represent & social policy
–> individual participant may reveal personal info that’s later accessed by employer
–> findings of study may suggest people with depression never fully recover & thus, are a risk as an employee
–> (social policy) findings could inform preferred treatment options recommended by NHS
implications for the research process: research question
- sieber & stanley (1988) warn the way research questions are phrased & investigated may influence how findings are interpreted
- eg. klitzinger & coyle (1995) note how research into relationships has been guilty of form of ‘heterosexual bias’ where homosexual relationships were compared/judged against heterosexual norms
implications for the research process: dealing with participants
- issues (eg. informed consent, confidentiality, protection from harm) can be especially important to socially sensitive research
- eg. studies on domestic abuse may cause participants to worry that an ex-partner will discover study & likely to be extremely distressing for participants to explain experiences
- such participants may provide informed consent at start of study but not fully understand effect of research
implications for the research process: way findings are used
- researchers must consider prior to study how research findings may be used
- may impact on data they collect
- particularly important as findings from research may be seen as giving scientific credence to existing prejudices (eg. studies examining ethnic basis of intelligence)
- sensitive info is exactly what media are often interested in/publish
AO3 +) socially sensitive research can benefit the group that’s studied
E:
- eg. homosexuality
- in 1952, the DSM-1 listed this as ‘sociopathic personality disorder’ but removed in 1973
- change was credited to kinsey report based on anonymous interviews with 5000+ men about sexual behaviour (kinsey et al. 1948)
- report concluded homosexuality is typical expression of human sexual behaviour & included data on interviews with 6000+ women
T: illustrates important of researchers tackling sensitive topics
AO3 +) certain groups (eg. policymakers) rely on research related to socially sensitive issues
E:
- government looks at research when developing important social policies (eg. decisions related to child care, education, mental health provision, crime etc.)
- preferable to base polices on scientific research (rather than politically-motivated views)
- in the UK there’s independent groups (eg. ONS) who describe themselves as responsible for collecting, analysing & disseminating objective statistics about UK’s economy, society & population
- data used in psychological research
T: means psychologists have important role in providing high quality research on socially sensitive topics
AO3 -) poor research design which may lead to incorrect findings (which have an impact once in public)
E:
- case in relation to burt’s research (1955) as, even after fraud exposed, the 11+ continued to be used
- 11+ still used as selection tool in parts of UK (eg. kent)
- access to many independent schools based on child’s performance in entrance exam in year 6 (age 11) & likely based on same reasoning that genetic potential revealed itself by this age
T: any research on socially sensitive topics must be planned with upmost care to ensure valid findings because of enduring effects on certain groups of people
