ethical issues

Question 1

ethical issues

Answer 1

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

Question 2

BPS code of ethics

Answer 2

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

code is build around four major principles - respect, competence, responsibility and integrity

Question 3

informed consent

Answer 3

participants should be made aware of the aims, procedure and their right to withdraw before they agree to take part

there are alternatives - presumptive, prior general and retrospective consent

Question 4

deception

Answer 4

participants should not be deliberately misled

some deception is acceptable but participants must be fully debriefed at the end

Question 5

protection from harm

Answer 5

participants should not be exposed to any more risk than they would be in everyday life

if harm has been caused, participants should be offered counselling as part of the debrief

Question 6

confidentiality

Answer 6

participants’ anonymity and privacy must be respected and names should not be recorded

Question 7

dealing with informed consent

Answer 7

participants should be issues with a consent letter or form detailing all relevant information that might affect their decision to participate

assuming participant agrees, this is then signed

for investigations involving children under 16, a signature of parental consent is required

Question 8

presumptive consent

Answer 8

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 9

prior general consent

Answer 9

participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies - including one that will involve deception

by consenting, participants are effectively consenting to be deceived

Question 10

retrospective consent

Answer 10

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 11

dealing with deception and protection from harm

Answer 11

at end of study - given a full debrief - participants should be made aware of the true aims of investigation and any detailed not supplied during the study eg existence of other groups or experimental conditions

should be told what their data used for and right to withdraw and right to withhold data

counselling may be provided

Question 12

dealing with confidentiality

Answer 12

personal details should be protected

may record no personal details - anonymity
eg case study - HM