Ethical implications

• Ethical implications

  • Ethical issues arise due to conflict between psychs need for valid + valuable research + preserving rights of pps
  • Research’s can control the methods they use + how they treat pps
  • Work can impact public policy + affect perceptions of some groups in society
• Socially sensitive research

  • SSR= Potential social implications for pps in research
  • Examples: studies on race or sexuality
  • Researchers should not avoid such research + may have a social responsibility to carry it out
• Concerns for SSR

  • Sieber + Stanley identified concerns

  1. Implications - some studies may give scientific status to discrimination
  2. Uses - findings could be used for wrong purposes like shaping public policies
  3. Validity - Findings presented as objective in the past turned out to be fraudulent
• Strength of EI: benefits of SSR


  • Scarr argues that studies of under represented groups + issues may promote greater understanding to help reduce prejudices + encourage acceptance
  • E.g: research into unreliability of EWT has reduced risk of miscarriages of justice in legal system
  • Suggests SSR has valuable role in society
• Limitation of EI: SSR can be used for social control


  • in 1920s lot as of US states enacted legislation that led to compulsory sterilisation of many ppl
  • These ppl were judged to be feeble minded + a drain on society (e.g: low intelligence )
  • Shows that SSR has be used to prop us discriminatory practices in the past
• Limitation of EI: Difficult to predict cost + benefits


  • Research that carries EI is scrutinised by ethics committee— jobs is to weigh up cost + benefit of research
  • However, some social consequences involving vulnerable groups may be difficult to anticipate
  • Means assessment of research are typically subjective + the real impact can only be know once’s its public