ethical issues in research Flashcards
Describe the purpose of ethical committees in research.
Assess research proposals based on ethical considerations.
Evaluate aspects of consent, deception, debriefing, withdrawal from investigation, confidentiality, protection of ptps.
Psychologists who contravene the code can be disbarred.
Sometimes research may break the guidelines and yet still pass the committee for justifiable reasons.
Why may research pass an ethical committee despite breaking ethical guidelines?
The usefulness of a theory, experimental findings and the wider moral implications are all important implications considered.
What is meant by ethical implications in society?
The impact that psychological research may have in terms of:
The rights of people who are participating in the research.
The impact on wider society; The influencing on public policy, the way certain social groups are treated (e.g. research may lead to the discrimination of certain groups) or the perception of certain groups of people.
What does consent refer to in psychological research?
Participants must be briefed on objectives of the investigation and what will be required of them should they take part. In turn they must accept these conditions to proceed, and be put under no pressure to do so.
What does deception refer to in psychological research?
Generally, participants should not be misled during an investigation. However, sometimes participants need to be unaware of the true aims of an investigation - or even that they are participating in a study - to yield results that are considered valid (i.e. the data is a true reflection of what was supposed to be measured). This emphasises the need for participants to be debriefed at end of the study.
What does right to withdraw refer to in psychological research?
As part of their briefing prior to giving consent to partake, participants must be informed that they can leave the study at any point if they wish, and are under no obligation to disclose a reason why if they do.
What does confidentiality refer to in psychological research?
Participants should remain anonymous so that data cannot be identified as theirs (e.g. their names should be withheld when data is reported).
What does protection of participants refer to in psychological research?
It is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that participants are not caused any long-term physical or mental damage. For instance, it may be that participants are temporarily caused distress, although research will be pre-approved by an ethics committee to ensure this is sufficiently minimized, and researchers are expected to take participants through a detailed debriefing
What does debriefing refer to in psychological research?
When a study ends, participants should be told the true motivations behind the investigation, and given the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings with the researchers. It is also essential to ensure that the participants leave having not suffered long-lasting negative physical or mental effects, particularly where deception was utilised for the purposes of the experiment. Having checked that participants are in a positive state of health, they should also be notified of relevant services such as counselling to seek, if partaking in the study presents negative effects.
Outline Sieber and Stanleys ethical guidelines for carrying out SSR.
Privacy (people, not data) - Asking people questions of a personal nature (e.g. about sexuality) could offend.
Confidentiality (data) - Information (e.g. about HIV status) leaked to others, may affect a participants life.
Deception - causing wider public to believe something which isn’t true by your findings (e.g. parents are entirely responsible for how their children turn out).
Equitable treatment - unjust treatment for example would be publicising an idea that creates prejudice, or withholding treatment you believe to be beneficial from ptps so they can be used a controls.
Scientific freedom - researcher should weigh responsibilities against rights to do research.
Ownership of data - ethical consideration; when research findings can be used to make social policies, should they be publicly accessible?
The values of social scientists - The researchers values may conflict with those of a ptp/institution.
Cost/benefit analysis - of the costs outweigh the potential/actual benefits, it is unethical. However, it is difficult to assess costs and benefits accurately & ptps rarely benefit from research.
Give an example of ethical implications on a theory.
Bowlby’s theory of attachment - contributed to the development of childcare practises, but it also encouraged the view that a women’s place is at home with her children, which could make some women feel guilty for wanting to return to work following childbirth.
Give an example of ethical implications on a study.
Milgram (1963) - ptps were deceived and were unable to give fully informed consent. The experiment also caused significant distress, and the ptps were told or coerced to continue against their will.
However, the ptps were debriefed after the experiment and a follow-up interview took place a year later. The outcome of these interviews suggested ptps suffered no long-term effects.
What should any research to prior to taking place, if it holds potential ethical issues and implications?
Should be subject to a thorough cost-benefit analysis, as well as a full review by an ethical committee.
Although any cost-benefit analysis is invariably subjective, it does increase the chance that research is as ethically sensitive as possible before it is conducted.
What do Sieber & Stanley advise for researchers to be ethically sensitive?
Shouldn’t avoid researching socially sensitive issues. Scientists have a responsibility to find useful knowledge.
Need to take more care over consent, debriefing, etc when issue is sensitive.
Should be aware of how findings may be interpreted & used by others.
Should make explicit the assumptions underlying the research, so public can consider whether they agree.
Should make limitations of study explicit (e.g. only carried out on white American students).
Should be careful how they communicate with media and policymakers.
Should be aware of balance between obligations to ptps and those to society (e.g. if ptp says something they feel they should tell police).
Should be aware of their own values and biases and those of ptps.
