Research Ethics

Question 1

Ethics

Answer 1

The branch of philosophy that is concerned with morality i.e. what it means to behave morally and how people can achieve this goal

Question 2

Risks

Answer 2

• Physical/Psychological harm
• Privacy Violations
  -Failure of the treatment to treat the condition

Question 3

Benefits

Answer 3

• Helpful Treatment
  -Financial renumeration

Question 4

Risks to Science

Answer 4

• An uninteresting research question can waste time and resources

Question 5

Risks to Society

Answer 5

Results can be misunderstood or misapplied i.e. MMR vaccine causes autism

Question 6

Confederate

Answer 6

A helper who is pretending to be a real participant in a study

Question 7

Autonomy

Answer 7

A persons right to make their own choices and take their own actions free from coercion

Question 8

Informed Consent

Answer 8

Researchers obtain and document people’s agreement to participate in a study after having informed them of everything that might reasonably be expected to affect their decision

Question 9

Privacy

Answer 9

A person’s right to decide what information about them is shared with others

Question 10

Confidentiality

Answer 10

An agreement not to disclose participants personal information without their consent or some appropriate legal authorisation

Question 11

Anonymity

Answer 11

When a person’s name and other identifiable information is not collected at all.

Question 12

Nuremberg Code

Answer 12

A set of ten ethical principles for research written in 1947 in conjunction with the Nuremberg trials of Nazi physicians accused of war crimes against prisoners of concentration camps

Question 13

Declaration of Helsinki

Answer 13

An ethical code that was created by the World Medical Council in 1964

Question 14

Protocol

Answer 14

A detailed description of the research that is reviewed by an independent committee.

Question 15

Belmont Report

Answer 15

A set of federal guidelines written in 1978 as a response to the abuses of the Tuskegee study that recognises three important principles in research with humans; justice, respect for persons and beneficence and that formed the basis for federal regulations applied to research

Question 16

Justice

Answer 16

The importance of conducting research in a way that distributes risks and benefits fairly across different groups at a societal level

Question 17

Respect for Persons

Answer 17

One of the Belmont report principles that emphasises the need for participants to exercise autonomy, and to protect those with reduced autonomy, often through informed consent

Question 18

Beneficence

Answer 18

Underscores the importance of maximising the benefits of scientific research while minimising the harms to participants and society

Question 19

Federal Policy for the protection of human subjects

Answer 19

A set of laws based on the Belmont Report that apply to research conducted, supported or regulated by the federal government
- All research that receives federal support must have an institutional review board

Question 20

Institutional Review Board

Answer 20

A committee that is responsible for reviewing research protocols for potential ethical problems

Question 21

Exempt Research

Answer 21

Research on the effectiveness of normal, educational activities, the use of standard psychological measures and surveys of a non- sensitive nature that are administered in a way that maintains confidentiality and research using existing data from public sources

Question 22

Expedited Review

Answer 22

Research reviewed by the IRB that is not anonymous and/or may involve potentially stigmatising information or invasive/ uncomfortable procedures, but exposes participants to risk that are no greater than minimal risks (i.e. risks encountered by healthy people in everyday life or in routine physical/ psychological examinations)

Question 23

Greater than minimal risk research

Answer 23

Research that poses greater than minimal risk to participants and must be reviewed by the full board of IRB members

Question 24

APA Ethics code

Answer 24

It was first published in 1953 and includes about 150 specific ethical standards that psychologists and their students are expected to follow
i.e. having personal relationships with clients

Question 25

Consent Form

Answer 25

The process of obtaining informed consent by having the participants read and sign a form

Question 26

When is consent not required

Answer 26

• The research won’t cause any harm
  -The research is carried out in the context of the people’s ordinary activities i.e. sitting at a public building and recording how many people hold the door for the person behind them

Question 27

Deception

Answer 27

-Misinforming participants about the purpose of a study
- Using confederates
- Using phony equipment
- Presenting participants with false feedback about their performance

Question 28

Debriefing

Answer 28

-The process of informing research participants as soon as possible of the purpose of the study
-Revealing any deception
- Correcting any misconceptions they might have as a result of participating
- Minimising harm that might have occurred

Question 29

Pre-Screening

Answer 29

A way to minimise risks in a study and to identify and eliminate participants who are at high risk