Ethical issues

• confidentiality 


  people cannot be identified in the research
• informed consent 


  participants must be told what the study is about before taking part
• deception


  people should not be misled about the true aims of the study
• protection from harm


  The risk of harm to participants must not be greater than the risk from everyday life
• dealing with informed consent 


  Researchers should produce a letter for participants explaining what

  the study involves and the aims. they are then asked to sign a consent form
• dealing with deception


  at the end of the study , participants should be given a full debriefing of the study and should inform them of the things they had not been told before. they can then withdraw their data if they want to
• dealing with protection from harm

  if the participants felt uncomfortable or anxious during the study , the psychologist has a responsibility to put this right. they should be reassured that their behaviour was normal and are offered counselling.
• dealing with confidentiality 


  all participants should be anonymous . researchers should not use participants name but their initials or number