RM - Ethical issues Flashcards
What is confidentiality?
Concerns the communication of personal information and the trust that the information will be protected.
What is deception?
A participant is not told the true aim of the study and thus cannot give truly informed consent.
What is informed consent?
Participants must be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and the purpose of the research and their role in it, in order that they can make an informed decision about whether to participate.
What is privacy?
A person’s right to control the flow of information about themselves.
What is protection from harm?
During a research study, participants should not experience negative physical or psychological effects, such as physical injury, lowered self-esteem or embarrassment.
What is the right to withdraw?
Participants can stop participating in a study if they are uncomfortable in any way. This is especially important in cases where it was not possible to give fully informed consent. Participants should also have the right to refuse permission for the researcher to use any data they produced.
What is the BPS?
British psychological society
They advise the code of ethics.
What are the 4 recent principles from the most recent code of ethics from the BPS?
Respect
Competence
Responsibility
Integrity
Explain the principle of respect:
Respect for the dignity and worth of all persons including standards of privacy and confidentiality and informed consent. Intentional deception is only acceptable when it is necessary to protect the integrity of research and when the deception is disclosed to participants at the earliest opportunity.
One way to judge acceptability is to consider whether they are likely to object or show unease when debriefed. They should be aware of the right to withdraw from the research at any time.
Explain the principle of competence:
Psychologists should maintain high standards in their professional work.
Explain the principle of responsibility:
Psychologists have a responsibility to their clients, to the general public and to the science of psychology. This includes protecting participants from physical and psychological harm as well as debriefing at the conclusion of their participation.
Explain the principle of integrity:
Psychologist should be honest and accurate. This includes reporting the findings of any research accurately and acknowledging any potential limitations. It also includes bringing instances of misconduct by other psychologists to the attention of the BPS.
What is informed consent from the researchers PoV?
Revealing the true aims of the study - or at least telling the participants what is going to happen. (This however may lead to the participant searching for cues and therefore change their behaviour so the researcher may not want to tell them what is going to happen).
What is informed consent from the participants PoV?
They should be told what they will be required to do in the study so that they can make an informed decision about whether they wish to participate. This is a basic human right.
What is deception from the researchers PoV?
It can be necessary to deceive participants about the true aims of a study otherwise participants might alter their behaviour and the study could be meaningless.