Dealing with ethical issues

• Main Ethical Principles • Informed consent/withdrawal • Deception • Protection of participants from harm • Privacy & Confidentiality
• Informed consent Participants must be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of a study and their role in it. • Aim of research • The procedures • Their rights to withdraw • What their data will be used for • From the researchers point of view, asking for informed consent may make the study meaningful.
• Deception Deception mean deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation. Researchers should avoid deceiving participants where possible. However, the BPS recognises that there is a difference between falsely informing participants about the aim of the study and withholding some information about the aims of the study. For example, in our energy study it would probably be acceptable not to tell participants that there is another group drinking a different substance, as knowing this may affect their behaviour.
• Protection from harm Investigators have a primary importance to protect participants from any physical/ mental harm during the investigation. • Participants should not be exposed to harm any greater than would normally occur in everyday life • Physical and psychological harm (e.g. stress, damage to self image, under pressure) • Participants should leave (rights to withdraw) the study unchanged from how they entered it (debriefing)
• Privacy and confidentiality

  All data should be confidential, all PPs should be anonymous and unidentifiable. (e.g. through use of numbers; not recording names etc.) • Confidentiality refer to our right, protected under the Data Protection Act, to have any personal data protected. • The rights to privacy extends to the area where the study took place, such as institutions • PPs’ right to privacy must be respected since invasions of privacy may affect well-being and raise confidentiality issues
• What is the primary role of ethics committees in research?


  To make judgments about the costs and benefits involved in research
• What does an ethics committee ensure regarding medical experimentation?


  That it is carried out in an ethical manner
• What are considered costs in a cost-benefit analysis of research?


  Potentially negative consequences of the research
• What might be a damaging effect of research on individual participants?


  Negative consequences that affect their well-being
• What are the benefits in a cost-benefit analysis of research?


  Potentially positive consequences for participants or society
• What is the definition of an ethics committee?


  • A body responsible for overseeing ethical standards
  • Ensures medical experimentation and human subject research are ethical
• What is the potential impact of unethical research on psychology?


  It can damage the reputation of psychology as a whole
• Why is it important to analyze both costs and benefits in research?

  To ensure ethical considerations are balanced in decision-making