ethical issues

• Informed Consent

  At a basic level, prospective participants in studies

  should know what they are getting into before they

  get into it. Informed consent involves making

  participants aware of the aims of the research, the

  procedures, their rights (including the right to

  withdraw partway through the investigation should

  they so wish), and also what their data will be used

  for. Participants should then make an informed

  judgement whether or not to take part without

  being coerced (pressured) or feeling obliged.
• Informed Consent

  From the researcher's point

  of view, asking for informed

  consent may make the

  study meaningless because

  participants' behaviour will

  not be 'natural' as they

  know the aims of the study.
• Informed consent;

  Participants must be given

  comprehensive information

  concerning the nature and purpose of

  the research and their role in it, in

  order that they can make an informed

  decision about whether to participate.
• Presumptive consent;

  rather than getting consent

  from the participants

  themselves, a similar group

  of people are asked if the

  study is acceptable. If this

  group agree, then consent

  of the original participants

  is 'presumed’.
• Prior general consent;

  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.
• Retrospective consent;

  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.
• Presumptive consent – although the people asked may be similar, they are not the same

  as the participants and so may have views about what is acceptable in psychological

  research that do not reflect those of the participants.
• Prior general consent – although participants may consent to a notional study, they may

  feel very differently when the actual investigation takes place.
• Retrospective consent – participants may feel deceived by the fact that they were not

  asked for their permission at the beginning of the study. This was a feature of Milgram's

  obedience study; people felt that 'the damage was already done' by the time Milgram

  asked for consent.
• Deception means deliberately

  misleading or withholding information

  from participants at any stage of the

  investigation. This is linked to the

  informed consent. Participants who have

  not received adequate information

  when they agreed to take part (or

  worse, have been deliberately lied to)

  cannot be said to have given informed

  consent.
• Despite that, there are occasions

  when deception can be justified if it

  does not cause the participant undue

  distress.
• Deception;

  A participant is not told the true

  aims of a study (e.g. what

  participation will involve) and

  thus cannot give truly informed

  consent.
• 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 and psychological harm.

  Psychological harm includes being made

  to feel embarrassed, inadequate or being

  placed under undue stress or pressure.
• Protection from Harm

  An important feature of

  protection from harm, as

  mentioned before, is

  participants being reminded

  of the fact that they have

  the right to withdraw from

  the investigation at any

  point.
• 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.
• Privacy and Confidentiality

  Participants have the right to control information about

  themselves. This is the right of privacy. If this is invaded, then

  confidentiality should be protected.

  Confidentiality refers to

  our right, enshrined in law

  under the Data Protection

  Act, to have any personal

  data protected.
• Privacy and Confidentiality

  The right to privacy

  extends to the area

  where the study took

  place such that

  institutions or

  geographical locations

  are not named.
• Confidentiality;

  Concerns the communication of personal

  information from one person to another, and

  the trust that the information will be

  protected.

  Privacy;

  A person's right to control the flow of

  information about themselves.
• BPS Code of Conduct

  The British Psychological Society (BPS), like many other professional

  bodies, has its own BPS code of ethics and this includes a set of

  ethical guidelines.

  Researchers have a professional

  duty to observe these guidelines

  when conducting research – they

  won't be sent to prison if they don't

  follow them but they may well lose

  their job.
• BPS Code of Conduct

  The guidelines are closely matched to the ethical issues we discussed

  last lesson and attempt to ensure that all participants are treated

  with respect and consideration during each phase of research.

  Guidelines are implemented by

  ethics committees in research

  institutions who often use a

  cost-benefit approach to determine

  whether particular research

  proposals are ethically acceptable.
• It is the responsibility of ethics committees to

  weigh up the costs and benefits of research

  proposals to decide whether the research

  study should go ahead. Benefits might

  include the value or ground-breaking nature

  of the research. Possible costs may be the

  damaging effect on individual participants or

  to the reputation of psychology as a whole.
• Dealing with Informed Consent

  Participants should be issued with a

  consent letter or form detailing all

  relevant information that might affect

  their decision to participate. Assuming

  the participant agrees, this is then signed.

  For investigations involving children

  under 16, a signature of parental consent

  is required. There are other ways to

  obtain consent, as discussed last lesson.
• Dealing with Deception and Protection from Harm:

  Debriefing

  At the end of a study, participants

  should be given a full debrief. Within

  this, 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.
• Dealing with Deception and Protection from Harm:

  Debriefing

  Participants should also be told

  what their data will be used for

  and must be given the right to

  withhold data if they wish. This

  is particularly important if

  retrospective consent is a

  feature of the study.
• Dealing with Deception and Protection from Harm:

  Debriefing

  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.
• When participants arrive to take part in

  a study they are given a briefing so they

  can provide informed consent (told

  what they will be asked to do, told some

  or all of the aims of the research, etc.).

  After the research participants will be

  debriefed.
• Dealing with Confidentiality

  If personal details are held these must be

  protected. However it is more usual to

  simply record no personal details, i.e.

  maintain anonymity. Instead, researchers

  usually refer to participants using numbers

  or initials when writing up the

  investigation. In a case study,

  psychologists often use initials when

  describing the individual or individuals

  involved.
• Dealing with Confidentiality

  Finally, it is standard

  practice that during briefing

  and debriefing, participants

  are reminded that their

  data will be protected

  throughout the process.