ethical issues in psychology

Question 1

what is Informed Consent ?

Answer 1

making participants aware of the aims of the research and of their right to withdraw at any point

Question 2

why can informed consent be an issue for researchers ?

Answer 2

it can make the study meaningless as the participants’ behaviour will be unnatural as they know the aim of the study

Question 3

Protection from harm

Answer 3

participants should be protected from physical or psychological harm e.g made to feel embarrassed, inadequate or stressed

Question 4

how to prevent deception & protection from harm

Answer 4

at the end of the study the participants should be given a full debrief e.g made aware of the true aims they will also be told what their data will be used for and given the right to withdraw data

Question 5

privacy and confidentiality

Answer 5

participants have the right to control information about themselves & protect their data

Question 6

how to deal with privacy & confidentiality

Answer 6

usually researchers record no personal details so they can maintain anonymity, participants can be referred to using letters & numbers or initials