ethical issues

Question 1

what are ethical issues?

Answer 1

conflict about what is acceptable in scientific research.

Question 2

describe informed consent from the researchers and the participants perspective.

Answer 2

participant- consent is a basic human right so they should be told the true aims of the study to make an informed choice as to whether to be a part of the research

researcher- revealing the true aims of the study may cause participants to guess the experiments true aims thus leading to demand characteristics.

Question 3

describe deception from the researchers and the participants perspective.

Answer 3

participants- this is unethical for participants. this could lead to participants consenting into something they don’t understand. researchers could then be seen as untrustworthy, hindering further development.

researcher- participants may alter behaviour is this does not occur. researchers have to determine if it’s worth deception. if deception occurs, a debriefing must follow.

Question 4

describe the right to withdrawl from the researchers and the participants perspective.

Answer 4

participants- it is important if a participant begins to feel emotionally distressed. particularly if deception or money has been involved.

researcher- results may be sabotaged or biased if participants leave during the study. this would have negative impacts on the validity of the study.

Question 5

describe protection from physical and psychological harm from the researchers and the participants perspective.

Answer 5

participant- no physical or psychological harm should occur during this study.

researcher- it can be difficult to guarantee this. it is also difficult to predict the outcome of certain procedures. they must leave in the same state they entered in.

Question 6

describe confidentiality from the researchers and the participants perspective.

Answer 6

participants- data protection act makes confidentiality a legal right. Data must not be able to identify participants

researcher- difficult to protest. sometimes it might be obvious who took part in the study.

Question 7

describe privacy from the researchers and the participants perspective.

Answer 7

participant- people do not expect to be observed in certain situations (e.g own homes). however it may be acceptable in public places

researcher- difficult to avoid (e.g field studies)

Question 8

what are some ways to deal with ethical issues?

Answer 8

ethical guidelines (code of conduct) :

• cost-benefit analysis (a systematic approach to estimating the positives and negatives of any research.)
• ethics committee (a group of people within a research institution that must approve a study before it begins.
• punishment- to the researcher if they don’t behave in an ethical manner.
• ethical guidelines (something researchers should follow to ensure they are ethical)

Question 9

what are some methods of dealing with specific ethical issues?

Answer 9

informed consent: presumption consent (asking a group similar to that in the study if they’d take part, if they say yes, they presume the actual group would too) -may be different to actual experience

deception: debriefing (post-research interview designed to inform participants of true nature of study) -participants may still feel embarrassed.

right to withdraw: participants should be informed that they have the right before the study - participants may still feel they shouldn’t withdraw as it might spoil the study.