Ethics Flashcards
What are ethics?
Ethics are moral principals of behaviour. They are guidelines that help us determine whether behaviours are acceptable or not.
Why are ethics important?
They are there to protect participants and the researchers and to ensure the integrity of psychology
What does BPS stand for?
British Psychological Society
What is the British Psychological Society?
The representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK
What are the 4 key principles in the BPS code of ethics?
Respect, competence, responsibility and integrity
What is the acrostic poem for ethical issues?
Can
Do
Can’t
Do
With
Participants
What are the 6 ethical issues?
Confidentiality (& privacy)
Deception
Consent
Debrief
Right to withdraw
Protection of participants
What does the ethical issue of confidentiality state?
Participant’s details should be stored in a secure location and no details about them should be recorded or published
What makes confidentiality a legal right?
The Data Protection Act
When is it difficult to protect confidentiality?
When the findings are published
What could a researcher do to protect confidentiality?
A researcher may guarantee anonymity but even then it may be obvious in a study
What does the ethical issue of privacy state?
This is the right to be free from interference or intrusion.
People do not expect to be observed by others in certain situations for example in the privacy of their own homes
When is it difficult to avoid invasion of privacy?
When studying participants without their awareness, for example, in a field experiment
What does the ethical issue of deception state?
Participants should not be lied to about what will happen in the experiment
What does deception prevent?
Prevents participants bring able to give informed consent. They may agree to participate without knowing what they have really let themselves in for
What does deception do to a researcher?
Deception may also make the researcher look untrustworthy
Why can it be hard to avoid deception?
It can be necessary to deceive (lie) about the true aims of a study otherwise participants may alter their behaviour
What ranges how acceptable deception is?
The level of deception
What does the ethical issue of consent state?
Participants should be told the aim of the research at the start and what they will have to do in the experiment
Why can consent be hard to avoid?
Researchers often do not reveal all aspects of a study to the participant to decrease demand characteristics
What does the ethical issue of right to withdraw state?
Participants have the right to leave the experiment at any time and should be told this at the start, throughout and reminded in the debrief
Why is the main reason a participant would want to withdraw from a study?
If a participant is made to feel uncomfortable or distressed
This is especially important if the participants has been deceived
Why might participants feel like they are unable to withdraw?
If they have received money or university credits for partaking in the study
What is a limitation for the researcher of right to withdraw?
If participants leave during the study it could cause bias results
What does the ethical issue of protection from harm state?
Participants should leave the experiment in the same physical and psychological state they entered it in
What is considered acceptable in protection from harm?
It is considered acceptable if the harm is no greater than a participant would be like to experience in ordinary life
Why is it difficult to guarantee protection from harm?
Some important questions in psychology may involve a degree of distress in participants and it is difficult to predict the outcomes of some experiments
How should a researcher deal with informed consent?
Participants should receive a consent letter detailing all relevant information. If the participant agrees this is then signed.
For investigations involving children under 16, parental consent is required
What is presumptive consent?
Rather than getting consent from the participants themselves, a similar group of people are asked if the study is acceptable. If this group agree, then consent of the original participants is presumed
What is prior general consent?
Participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies - including one that will involve deception. By consenting, participants are effectively consenting to be deceived
What is retrospective consent?
Participants are asked for their consent (during debriefing) having already taken part in the study. They may not have been aware of their participation or they may have been subject to deception
How should a researcher deal with deception and protection from harm?
At the end of a study, participants should be given a full debrief
What should happen in a debrief?
→ Participants should be made aware of the true aims and any details they were not supplied with during the study
→ Participants should also be told what their data will be used for and must be given a right to withdraw if they wish
→ Participants may have natural concerns related to their performance, and so should be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal
What should a researcher provide if a participant have suffered extreme stress or embarrassment caused by their study?
Counselling
How should a researcher deal with confidentiality?
→ Record no personal details
→ In case studies, researchers often use initials instead of names
