research methods: ethical issues and ways to deal with them

Question 1

What are ethical issues?

Answer 1

They arise when a conflict exists between the rights of participants in research studies and the goals of research to produce authentic, worthwhile and valid data

Question 2

What document instructs British psychologists about ethics in psychology?

Answer 2

the British Psychology’s Code of ethics

Question 3

What are the 4 main issues of ethics in psychology?

Answer 3

• informed consent
• deception
• protection from harm
• privacy and confidentiality

Question 4

What is informed consent?

Answer 4

Making participants aware of the aims and consequences of taking part in research e.g. risk of harm, potential benefits of research. Also includes the right to withdraw from the investigation

Question 5

How can consent be gained?

Answer 5

From a parent or guardian if the pp is unable to give informed consent themselves

Question 6

How should participants feel when making a judgement?

Answer 6

Should be able to give an informed judgement without being coerced or feeling obliged

Question 7

Why might researchers be hesitant about receiving informed consent?

Answer 7

May make the study meaningless because the participants’ behaviour will not be ‘natural’ as they know the aims of the study

Question 8

What is deception?

Answer 8

Deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation

Question 9

What does deception link to?

Answer 9

• Informed consent is linked to the principle that we shouldn’t deceive
• participants participants who have not received adequate information when they agreed to take part cannot be said to have given informed consent

Question 10

What is protection from harm?

Answer 10

The researcher is responsible for designing research that does not risk the psychological well-being, physical health, personal values and dignity of the pps

Question 11

What is privacy and confidentiality?

Answer 11

Participants’ personal data should be kept securely by the researcher and not shared

Question 12

How should confidentiality be ensured when research is published?

Answer 12

when the research is published, it should not include the identity of participants or information that could reveal the identity of participants

Question 13

Which law is confidentiality enshrined in?

Answer 13

the Data Protection Act

Question 14

What is debriefing?

Answer 14

After the data collection is completed the researcher should offer a debriefing which would reveal any information withheld such as the existence of other groups and can check for any psychological or physical harm and offer assistance

Question 15

Who implements the guidelines from the BPS code of ethics?

Answer 15

By ethics committees in research institutions who often use a cost-benefit approach to determine whether particular research proposals are ethically acceptable

Question 16

What are the limitations of informed consent?

Answer 16

Revealing the true aims of a study when asking for IC can lead to demand characteristics which reduces the internal validity

Question 17

What alternative can researchers use for informed consent?

Answer 17

• Prior general consent
• Retroactive consent
• Presumptive consent

Question 18

What is prior general consent?

Answer 18

Details all relevant information that might effect their decision to participate, not knowing which aspects will be part of the study they are in
- participants agree to all of it

Question 19

What is retroactive consent?

Answer 19

The researcher asks for consent after the participant has taken part in the study, if the participant does not agree to part their data is destroyed

Question 20

What is presumptive consent?

Answer 20

The researcher asks a group similar to the sample if they would agree to take part in the research and if the group agrees, the researcher assumes that the participants would also agree

Question 21

How can researchers deal with deception and protection from harm?

Answer 21

• Giving participants a full debrief after the experiment
• giving participants the right to withdraw and the right to withhold data if they wish
• researchers can provide counselling for participants who have been subject to stress or embarassment
• perform a cost-benefit analysis

Question 22

What is a cost-benefit analysis?

Answer 22

Assessing the potential harm to participants and comparing this to the potential benefits of the research to society

Question 23

How can psychologists deal with confidentiality?

Answer 23

• if personal details are recorded these must be protected
• more usual to maintain anonymity
• in a case study, psychologists often use initials when describing the individuals involved
• standard practice during briefing or debriefing to remind participants that their data will be protected throughout the process and will not be shared