Ethical Issues

Question 1

CDCDWP

Answer 1

can do can’t do with participants

Question 2

BPS code of ethics

Answer 2

quasi-legal document produced by BPS to instruct psychologists about behaviour that is/isn’t acceptable when dealing with pps

Question 3

informed consent

Answer 3

pps must be told the aim of the investigation and about any potential risks they may be subject to so that they can make an informed choice whether to participate or not
researchers don’t always want to disclose this info bc it may lead to demand characteristics

Question 4

informed consent: solution

Answer 4

three types of informed consent have been developed: retrospective, presumptive, general prior

Question 5

retrospective consent

Answer 5

experiment done first, then asked if consent is given to use data

Question 6

presumptive consent

Answer 6

consent asked from similar people if it is impossible to ask pps, therefore an assumption is made

Question 7

general prior

Answer 7

tells pps lots of experiments, not classifying which one is to be conducted, and they all get consented to

Question 8

deception

Answer 8

researchers deliberately withholding information from pps or misleading them during the experiment
only acceptable when the pps could guess the true aims or if knowing the aims would cause distress

Question 9

deception: solution

Answer 9

debriefing - all pps are debriefed (verbally or written) after the experiment, states the true nature of the study and what pps’ data will be used for
pps can have the choice to withhold or withdraw their data

Question 10

protection from harm

Answer 10

pps must be protected from physical and psychological harm by the researcher

Question 11

protection from harm: solution

Answer 11

cost-benefit analysis - carried out before the study by the ethics committee to determine the pros and cons of the study and determine if it is ethical

Question 12

right to withdraw

Answer 12

pps are consistently reminded throughout the experiment that they have the right to withdraw
they can also withdraw their data from the experiment after debriefing
can cause sample attrition = pps dropping out of the experiment creates a bias and invalid results

Question 13

confidentiality

Answer 13

right to privacy means that the pps have the right to control info about themselves
it can be difficult to avoid invading a pps privacy
confidentiality means the pps have the right to the protection of any personal data

Question 14

confidentiality: solution

Answer 14

anonymity is maintained by researchers not recording personal details and referring to pps with numbers/initials
pps should be reminded during briefing and debriefing that their data will be protected