Research Ethics

Question 1

What change in ethics was made following the Tuskegee syphilis of 1932-72?

Answer 1

• National Research Act was passed by US congress in 1974, stating the cost benefit could no longer be used as a justification for unethical practice in medical research
• 400 African American men were infected without being informed

Question 2

What change in ethics was made following the Nazi medical experiments?

Answer 2

• developed a code called the Nuremberg Code after the trials
• specified the limits of the powers of the researchers under these circumstances to ensure that human rights were protected

Question 3

What are the APA principles?

Answer 3

• A: beneficence and non-maleficence (psychologists strive to benefit those who they work with and do no harm, seek to safeguard people’s welfare)
• B: fidelity and responsibility (psychologists establish relationships of trust with those they work with, are aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the communities they work in)
• C: integrity (psychologists seek to promote accuracy, honesty and truthfulness in science, teaching and practice of psychology)
• D: justice (psychologists recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to access and benefit from contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures and services being conducted)
• E: respect for people’s rights and dignity (psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality and self-determination)

Question 4

What are the BPS principles?

Answer 4

• respect (psychologists value dignity and worth of all persons with particular regard to people’s rights including those of privacy and self-determination)
• competence (psychologists value the continuing development and maintenance of high standards of competence)
• responsibility (psychologists value their responsibilities to clients, general public and profession and science of psychology, includes avoidance of harm)
• integrity (psychologists value honesty, accuracy, clarity and fairness in their interactions with all)

Question 5

What are researcher-participant relations?

Answer 5

• investigators have responsibility to protect participants from physical and mental harm
• participants shouldn’t be exposed to risks that are greater than everyday lives

Question 6

Definition of informed consent?

Answer 6

• consent must be explicit when participants are recruited from ‘special groups’ based on race, beliefs/opinions, health, sex life etc
• consent has to be unambiguous, freely given, specific, can have no silence/opt-out

Question 7

Definition of deception?

Answer 7

• withholding information or misleading participants
• intentional act in which senders knowingly transmit messages to foster a false belief/interpretation
• should be able to justify the use of deception as essential
• participants should be provided with any necessary information to complete their understanding of the nature of the research
• usually involves a written statement of the purpose of the research

Question 8

What’s ethical approval?

Answer 8

• all research must be granted before data collection begins
• Track A (non-interventionist methods, no ethical concerns, applications reviewed by chair of PREC or member)
• Track B (ethically sensitive methods/subject, applications are reviewed by chair of the PREC pr committee member, require substantially more documentation)

Question 9

What may be unethical in the handling of data?

Answer 9

-questionable research practices may not be fraud exactly but produce a favourable outcome for the researchers so is unethical

Question 10

What are questionable research practices?

Answer 10

• failing to report all dependent measures
• collecting more data after discovering significance
• not reporting all conditions
• stopping collection of data because it reached favourable conclusion
• reporting studies that worked
• claiming to have predicted an unexpected finding
• claiming results aren’t affected by demographics when they are

Question 11

What are ethics in writing research papers?

Answer 11

• overarching principle of authorship should reflect contributions made
• it’s not acceptable to include people as authors who didn’t contribute, and insisting on being lead author because of being a senior despite the actual size of contribution made

Question 12

What are researcher-researcher relations?

Answer 12

• between researchers and their colleagues
• collaborations involve interactions between people with different power and status
• relations should be appropriate, respectful, professional etc

Question 13

What are practitioner-client relations?

Answer 13

• maintain appropriate and professional relations
• maintain clearly defined roles
• only practice within own areas of expertise

Question 14

What are researcher-society relations?

Answer 14

-principles apply to how researchers interact with society at large