Ethics and Socially Sensitive Research

Question 1

What has been the assumption over the years by many psychologists?

Answer 1

That provided they follow the BPS guidelines when using human participants and that all leave in a similar state of mind to how they turned up, not having been deceived or humiliated, given a debrief and not having had their confidentiality breached, that there are no ethical concerns with their research

Question 2

What do psychologists have little say over?

Answer 2

How results are represented in the media - it is difficult to guard against the impact of psychological research once it has been conducted, in some cases it may influence our perception of other groups

Question 3

What are examples of socially sensitive research?

Answer 3

Genetic basis of criminality or topics such as race and sexuality are going to gain a lot of media attention, but psychologists should never shy away from such research as they have a social responsibility to carry it out

Question 4

What is an example of research that isn’t necessarily unethical but still has implications?

Answer 4

IQ tests administered to black Americans show that they typically score 15 points below the average white score
When black Americans are given these tests they presumably complete them willingly and are in no wat harmed as individuals, but when published, findings of this sort seek to reinforce racial stereotypes and are used to discriminate against the black population in the job market

Question 5

What four groups did Sieber and Stanley (the main names for SSR) outline that may be affected by psychological research?

Answer 5

1) Members of the social group being studied such as racial or ethnic group e.g. early research on IQ used to discriminate (group most concerned with)
2) Friends and relatives of those taking part in the study, particularly in case studies where individuals may become famous or infamous e.g. Genie’s mother
3) The research team - examples of researchers being intimidated because of the work they’re in
4) The institution in which the research is conducted

Question 6

What did Sieber and Stanley suggest were the four main ethical concerns when conducting SSR?

Answer 6

The research question or hypothesis
The treatment of individual participants
The institutional context
The way in which the findings of research are interpreted and applied

Question 7

What must be consider?

Answer 7

The implications of research, what the research is used for and the validity of research
Many modern constructionist researchers do tackle socially sensitive areas and are much more upfront with biases and preconceptions

Question 8

What else did Sieber and Stanley suggest?

Answer 8

Ethical guidelines for carrying out SSR (some overlap between these and research on human participants in general

Question 9

What is the ethical guideline for privacy?

Answer 9

This refers to people, rather than data. Asking people questions of a personal nature could offend them

Question 10

What is the ethical guideline for confidentiality?

Answer 10

This refers to data. Information, leaked to others may affect the participant’s life

Question 11

What is the ethical guideline for sound and valid methodology?

Answer 11

Even more vital when the research topic is socially sensitive
Academics are able to detect flaws in method but the lay public and the media often don’t - when research findings are publicised, people are likely to take them as fact and policies may be based on them e.g. Bowlby’s maternal deprivation studies and intelligence testing

Question 12

What is the ethical guideline for deception?

Answer 12

Causing the wider public to believe something, which isn’t true, by the findings you report (e.g. that parents are totally responsible for how their children turn out)

Question 13

What is the ethical guideline for informed consent?

Answer 13

Participants should be made aware of how taking part in the research may affect them

Question 14

What is the ethical guideline for justice and equitable treatment?

Answer 14

Examples of unjust treatment are a) publicising an idea which created prejudice against a group, b) withholding a treatment which you believe is beneficial from some participants so that you can use them as a control e.g. The Tuskergee Study which withheld treatment for STIs from black men to investigate the effects of syphilis on the body

Question 15

What is the ethical guideline for scientific freedom?

Answer 15

Science should not be censored but there should be some monitoring of sensitive research - the researchers should weigh their responsibilities against their rights to do the research

Question 16

What is the ethical guideline for ownership of data?

Answer 16

When research findings could be used to make social policies, which affect people’s lives, should they be publicly accessible?
Sometimes a party commissions research with their own interests in mind e.g. an industry, political party etc
Some people argue that scientists should be compelled to disclose their results so that other scientists can re-analyse them
George Miller famously argued that we should give psychology away

Question 17

What is the ethical guideline for the value of social scientists?

Answer 17

Psychologists can be divided into two main groups; those who advocate a humanistic approach (individuals are important) and those advocating a scientific approach (rigorous methodology etc)
The researchers values may conflict with those of the participant/ institution e.g. if someone with a scientific approach was evaluating a counselling technique based on a humanistic approach, they would judge it on criteria which those giving and receiving the therapy may not consider important

Question 18

What is the ethical guideline for cost/benefit analysis?

Answer 18

If the cost outweighs the potential/actual benefits, it is unethical. However, it is difficult to assess costs and benefits accurately and the participants themselves rarely benefit from research

Question 19

What do Sieber and Stanley advise?

Answer 19

Researchers should not avoid researching socially sensitive issues. Scientists have a responsibility to society to find useful knowledge

Question 20

What four things do Sieber and Stanley suggest to researchers?

Answer 20

They need to take more care over consent, debriefing etc, especially when the issue is sensitive
They should be aware of how their findings may be interpreted and used by others
They should make explicit the assumptions underlying their research, so that the public can consider whether they agree with these
They should make the limitations of their research explicit e.g the study was only based on American males

Question 21

What three other things do Sieber and Stanley suggest to researchers?

Answer 21

They should be careful how they communicate with the media and policymakers
They should be aware of the balance between their obligations to participants and those to society e.g. if the participant tells them something they feel they should tell the police
They should be aware of their own values and biases and those of the participants

Question 22

What are the arguments for SSR?

Answer 22

Psychologists have devised methods to resolve the issues raised
SSR is the most scrutinised research in psychology. Ethical committees reject more SSR than any other form of research
By gaining better understanding of issues such as gender, race and sexuality we are able to gain a greater acceptance and reduce prejudice
SSR has been of benefit to society e.g EWT - made us aware that it can be flawed and shouldn’t be used without corroboration
Most research is still carried out on While middle-class Americans - SSR is helping to redress the balance and make us more aware of other cultures and outlooks

Question 23

What is SSR?

Answer 23

Socially sensitive research involves studies that have the potential to have a negative impact on specific groups of people or society in general.

Question 24

What are the arguments against SSR?

Answer 24

Flawed research has been used to dictate social policy and put certain groups at disadvantage
Research has been used to discriminate against groups in society such as sterilisation of people in USA 1910-20 because of low intelligence, criminal or psychological illness
The guidelines used by psychologists to control SSR lack power and as a result are unable to prevent indefensible research being carried out

Question 25

What did Kitzinger and Coyle note?

Answer 25

How research into ‘alternative relationships’ has been guilty as a form of heterosexual bias. Researchers should approach with an open mind

Question 26

What happened in the 1950’s?

Answer 26

Subliminal messages research was used to market products such as coca cola who saw sales shoot up. This research seeks to manipulate the public

Question 27

What are examples of research that influences public policy?

Answer 27

Cyril Burt - 11+ examinations used to determine secondary education but had significant impact on life chances, this was based on the idea that intelligence was genetic. Discrepancies in data demonstrated that he made most of his results up, as well as inventing research assistants. It was publicly discredited but the idea of natural intelligence remained for years
Bowlby - attachment research important in mental health and may have influenced the government’s decision to offer free child care places to under 5’s. This research may have indirectly effected the idea that the mother gains custody of children

Question 28

What is the issue with social control?

Answer 28

In America in the 1920’s and 30’s, a large number of states decided to sterilise many citizens because they were ‘feebly-minded’ people who were unfit to breed

Question 29

What is the issue with costs and benefits?

Answer 29

Ethics committees weight the potential costs against the benefits however some social consequences are difficult to anticipate. As such the assessment of worth of subjective

Question 30

What is the race and IQ controversy?

Answer 30

Goddard (1917) issued IQ tests to immigrants as they arrived in the US and went on to claim that his findings demonstrated how the majority of Russians, Jews and Italians were feeble minded
Shockley suggested that there may be genetic reasons why black people scored lower on IQ tests
The book ‘The bell curve’ suggested that intelligence and race were interlinked - it can be suggested that the link is a form of biological determinism that has been used over the years to justify inequality.