Ethics Flashcards
Ethics
Ethics relate to the conduct of researchers when conducting psychological research. Psychologists have a responsibility to ensure that their research is conducted in an ethical way.
As such psychological researchers must be aware of the best interests of the participants and ensure that they do not directly or indirectly inflict psychological or physical harm.
To ensure research is ethical, The British Psychological Society (BPS) has produced a Code of Conduct for researchers to follow.
Code of Ethics and Conduct (BPS, 2009)
- Respect for the dignity and worth of all people. This includes standards of privacy, confidentiality and informed consent. Intentional deception is only acceptable when it is required for the integrity of the research and when the deception is revealed at the earliest opportunity. Participants should be aware that they can withdraw from the study at any time.
- Competence – psychologists should maintain high standards in their professional work.
- Responsibility – psychologists should protect participants from psychological and physical harm and debrief them at the end of their participation.
- Integrity - psychologists should value honesty, accuracy, clarity, and fairness in their interactions with all people. This includes reporting findings of research accurately. It also includes bringing examples of misconduct by other psychologists to the attention of the BPS.
Ethical issues in the design and conduct of psychological studies
Ethical issues arise when there is a dilemma between what the researcher wants to do in their psychological study and the rights and best interests of the participants.
5 main ethical issues
- informed consent
- use of deception
- right to withdraw
- confidentiality
- protection of participants from harm
informed consent
Participants should have sufficient information about the research aims and procedures to enable them to make an informed judgement about whether they want to take part. Therefore, the researcher must tell the participants about all aspects of the study to obtain their informed consent.
In practice, obtaining informed consent arises as an issue in research because, if the participants are given full details of the research study, then this may influence their behaviour.
use of deception
Participants should not be misled about the true aims of the research or have information withheld relating to the procedures of the study.
In practice, the use of deception is an issue in psychological research because usually some deception within research in needed otherwise the participants may show demand characteristics. Often deception is quite trivial, but on some occasions, it can be a very deliberate attempt to give participants false information which if revealed, might affect their willingness to take part.
right to withdraw
Participants should be informed that they can withdraw from a study at any point during the research. They should also be able to withdraw their data once the results have been gathered.
In practice, this issue arises in psychological research because even though participants are aware of their right to withdraw, they may feel obligated to continue especially if they are being paid. It is also questionable whether participants would feel confident enough to ask to leave, despite being told they can by researchers.
confidentiality
Information on participants who take part in psychological research should be kept confidential. Any data gathered from the participant should not be personally identifiable.
In practice, confidentiality can arise as an issue in psychological research because sometimes the generic details in the research report (such as location) can make it obvious which person/institution the research is referring to. A researcher may also discover information which should be disclosed e.g., the participant has committed a crime.
protection of participants from harm
Participants should be protected from any psychological or physical harm during research. They should be protected from humiliation and loss of their dignity. The risks that they are exposed to within the research should not exceed what they would encounter in everyday life.
In practice, this issue often arises in psychological research because lots of studies do result in participants feeling some level discomfort, although this is often fairly small and short term. It is also hard to determine whether the risks that they are exposed to within the research exceed what they would encounter in everyday life. Furthermore, if very important findings are revealed, then some psychologists believe that some distress can be justified.
4 main strategies to deal with ethical issues
- Adhering to the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2009) Code of Conduct.
Limitation: this removes responsibility from the researcher because they can say that their research is ethical if they have followed the guidelines. - Discussing the research proposals with an Ethics Committee to decide whether the procedures are ethical.
- Conducting a Cost-Benefit Analysis whereby the potential costs (such as distress to the participant) are weighed against the potential benefits (such as finding valuable results for society).
Limitation: it is not always easy to predict costs and benefits prior to a study being conducted. - If a psychologist does conduct unethical research, the BPS can enforce punishments such as preventing the researcher from practising as a psychologist.
Deal with ethical issues in informed consent
Obtain prior general consent: This involves informing the participant that they will not be told everything about the aims and procedures of the research and that they may be deceived in some way. The participant then has a choice whether or not to consent to these terms.
Obtain presumptive consent: This involves informing a group of individuals who are similar to the research participants about the full aims and procedures of the research. If these individuals agree that they would give their consent to the research, then the researcher presumes that the actual participants would give their consent too. Or Retrospective Consent
Obtain fully informed consent: Ask the actual participants to formally consent to the research after being given comprehensive details about the aims and procedures of the research.
Deal with ethical issues in use of deception
Obtain prior general consent
Debrief participants: After the research has been completed the participants should be informed of the true aims of the research. Researchers should use the debriefing to ensure that all participants are leaving the research in the same psychological/physical state in which they entered.
Deal with ethical issues in right to withdraw
Provide the right to withdraw: Researchers should make sure participants are told at the beginning of the research that if they feel uncomfortable with the research procedures, they can withdraw from the study at any point.
Deal with ethical issues in confidentiality
Avoid collecting personal details from participants: Researchers should maintain participant anonymity; they should use numbers or false names to identify participants.
Deal with ethical issues in protection of participants from harm
Terminate research: Researchers should not conduct research where harm is likely and terminate research where participants are experiencing psychological or physical harm which is greater than expected.
Provide the right to withdraw
Debrief participants
