Ethical issues Flashcards
(19 cards)
What does BPS code of conduct refer to?
The BPS (British Psychological Society) has its own code of ethics which include ethical guidelines
Researchers have a professional duty to observe and follow these guidelines - if they don’t then they could lose their job
What does the BPS code of conduct ensure?
It ensures that all participants are treated with respect and consideration during each phase of the research
Guidelines are implemented by ethics committees who often use a cost-benefit approach to determine whether research proposals are ethically acceptable
What is meant by informed consent?
Informed consent involves making the participants aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, their rights to withdraw, and what the data will be used for
The participants can then decide whether they want to take part
For children under 16, a signature of parental consent is needed
What is the downfall of getting informed consent?
Asking for informed consent could make the study meaningless as participants behaviour may not be ‘natural’
What are 3 alternative ways of getting consent?
Presumptive consent, prior general consent and retrospective consent
What is presumptive consent?
A similar group of people (not the participants) are asked whether they feel the study is acceptable. If the group agrees, then consent of the original participants is ‘presumed’
What is prior general consent?
Participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies - including deception
What is retrospective consent?
Participants are asked for their consent after having already taken part in the study. This is done during the debrief. They may not have been aware that they were part of a study
What is meant by deception?
This means deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation
There are occasions when deception can be justified as long as undue stress is not caused
What is meant by protection from harm?
Participants should not be placed under risk and should be protected from physical and psychological harm
They shouldn’t be made to feel embarrassed, inadequate or placed under undue stress or pressure
Participants should be reminded that they have the right to withdraw from the investigation at any point
How do you deal with deception and protection from harm?
At the end, participants should be given a full debrief - made away of aims, other groups or experimental conditions
They should be told what their data will be used for and the right to withhold data if they wish (this is important if retrospective consent happens)
Participants need to be reassured that their behaviour was typical/ normal
Some participants may require counselling which should be provided by the researcher
What is meant by privacy and confidentiality?
Participants have the right to control information about themselves - the right of privacy
If privacy is invaded, then confidentiality should be protected
Confidentiality refers to our right, under the Data Protection Act, to have personal data protected
EG: places where the study took place are not named in the study
How is confidentiality dealt with?
Personal details must always be protected
Usually no personal details are recorded to maintain anonymity
Participants are usually referred to by numbers or initials
During briefing and debriefing, participants are reminded that their data will be protected throughout the process and that it won’t be shared with other researchers
Give an overview of pilot studies
Run a small-scale trial of the actual investigation
Involves a small sample of participants - test the procedure and check that it will run smoothly
It gives the researcher a chance to ensure that self-reporting methods, such as questionnaires or interviews, work. At this point they can remove, reword or add in any questions that might be ambigiuous or confusing
A pilot observational study will be able to check that the coding system (we will do more on this) works
It can also be a good way to train observers so they know what to look for in the “real” experiment
What is the main aim of a pilot study?
A pilot study allows the researcher to identify any potential issues and to modify the desgin or procedure, saving time and money in the long run
Describe a single-blind procedure
In this procedure, the participants will not be told the aim of the research at the beginning of the study
Other details such as which conditions they are in or if there are other conditions will be kept from them
Any information that might create expectations is not revealed until the end of the study to try to control the effects of demand characteristics
Describe a double-mind procedure
In this procedure neither the participants nor the researcher who conducts the study is aware of the aims of the investigation
It is often a 3rd party who conducts the investigation
These types of procedures are often an important feature of a drug trial
Treatments may be administered and they don’t know which drugs are real or placebos
By doing this expectations cannot influence participant/ researcher behaviour
Is it single-blind procedure or double-mind procedure where only the participants are unaware of the aim of the research?
Single-blind procedure
Describe a control group and conditions
The group that recieves the real drug = experimental group
The group that recieves the placebo drug = control group
The control group sets the ‘baseline’ and is used for comparison
If the change in the experiment group is significantly greater than the control group then the researcher can conclude that the cause of this effect was the IV
