SOC 09 - Ethics (MET) and Milgram

Question 1

What are ethical guidelines?

Answer 1

A set of principles designed to help professionals behave honestly and with integrity.

Question 2

What are ethical issues?

Answer 2

These arise when there is a conflict between the rights of the participants in research studies and the goals of the research to produce authentic, valid and worthwhile data.

Question 3

What is the BPS code of ethics?

Answer 3

A quasi-legal document produced by the British Psychological Society (BPS) that instructs psychologists in the UK about what behaviour is and is not acceptable when dealing with participants. The code is built around four major principles: respect, competence, responsibility and integrity.

Question 4

What are the types of consent?

Answer 4

• Presumptive consent
• Prior general consent
• Retrospective consent
• Informed consent

Question 5

What is informed consent?

Answer 5

Participants should be made aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, what their data will be used for and their right to withdraw before they agree to take part.

Question 6

What is presumptive consent?

Answer 6

Rather than getting consent from the participants themselves, a similar group of people are asked if the study is acceptable. If this group agrees, then consent of the original participants is ‘presumed’.

Question 7

What is prior general consent?

Answer 7

Participants give their permission to take part in several different studies – including one that will involve deception. By consenting participants are effectively consenting to be deceived.

Question 8

What is retrospective consent?

Answer 8

Participants are asked for their consent (during debriefing) having already taken part in the study. They may not have been aware of their participation, or they may have been subject to deception.

Question 9

What are some examples of ethical issues?

Answer 9

• Deception
• Right to withdraw
• Informed consent
• Protection from harm
• Privacy and confidentiality

Question 10

What is deception?

Answer 10

• Deliberately providing false information, misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation
• Participants who have not received adequate information regarding the investigation cannot be said to have given informed consent
• Deception could be justified if it does not cause the participants any undue distress

Question 11

What is protection from harm?

Answer 11

As a result of their involvement, participants should not be placed at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives, and should be protected from physical or psychological harm.

Question 12

What is the ‘right to withdraw’?

Answer 12

When participants have the right to withdraw from the research study at any point they feel uncomfortable with the study.

Question 13

What is confidentiality and privacy?

Answer 13

Confidentiality - a participant’s right to have personal information protected
Privacy - refers to a zone of inaccesiblity of mind or body and the trust that it won’t be ‘invaded’

Question 14

When is informed consent not necessary?

Answer 14

It is not necessary if the observation is conducted in a public place where individuals ‘expect’ to be observed.

Question 15

How should informed consent be dealt with?

Answer 15

• Participants should be issued with a consent letter of form detailing all relevant information that might affect their decision to participate
• For investigation involving children under 16, a signature of parental consent is required
• Get other types of consent e.g. presumptive, retrospective or prior general consent

Question 16

How should deception and protection from harm be dealt with?

Answer 16

• At the end of the study, participants should be provided with a full debrief (where participants should be made aware of the true aims of the investigation and any details they were not supplied with during the study, such as the existence of other groups or experimental conditions)
• Participants should be told what their data will be used for and and the right to withhold data if they wish
• Must be consistently reminded of their right to withdraw during the study
• Participants may have natural concerns related to their performance within the
  investigation, and so should be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal
• In extreme cases, if participants have been subject to stress or embarrassment, they may require counselling, which the researcher should provide