Research Process - Ethical Issues In Research

Question 1

What is ethical approval?

Answer 1

Review process that ensures the research involving people is conducted in a safe, fair, and respectful manner

Question 2

Do you need ethical approval before conducting a study?

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

Example of research studies that didn’t have ethical approval?

Answer 3

• Nazi medical experiments
• Tuskegee syphilis study

Question 4

What was tuskegee syphilis study?

Answer 4

African american men with syphilis were mislead and left untreated to observe progression of disease

Question 5

Nazi medical experiments?

Answer 5

Carried out on prisoners in concentration camps

Question 6

CIA - minded experiments by Dr Ewan Cameron Psychiatrist?

Answer 6

Patients subject to high doses of electrical shocks and played repetitive messages to break down their personalities to investigate mind control techniques

Question 7

Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)?

Answer 7

Autopsies of slain Canadian and British soldiers from WW1 and to remove damaged brains, gassed lungs, and shattered femurs without consent

Question 8

Why was code of ethics developed?

Answer 8

To help guide researchers through difficult situations where demands of the study conflict with rights of participants

Question 9

Ethical perspectives - what is consequentialism?

Answer 9

Judges morality of action based on consequences or outcomes it produces

Rightness or wrongness determined by goodness or badness of results

Question 10

Ethical perspectives - deontology?

Answer 10

Judges morality of an action based on adherence to rules or duties

You have to follow moral rules no matter what, even if an action is considered morally wrong and leads to good outcomes, or morally right and leads to bad outcomes

Question 11

Example of deontology and consequentialism where you find a lost wallet on the ground containing a lot of money?

Answer 11

Consequentialism = might keep money because it’ll make you happy. The outcome of this action (happiness) would justify keeping the money

Deontology = might argue that you should return the wallet regardless of consequences.

Question 12

What are the three ethical principles?

Answer 12

1. Benefice (minimize harm and maximize benefits)
2. Respect for human dignity or autonomy (self determination)
3. Justice (fairness and equity)

Question 13

Why are the three ethical principles important?

Answer 13

Provide framework for determining right and wrong

Question 14

Difference between code of ethics and ethical principles?

Answer 14

Code of ethics = formal statements outlining rules, standards and expectations of a behaviour
Ethical principles = guide behaviour and decision making