Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them

• Ethical issues arise when a conflict occurs between the rights of participants and the aims of the researcher.

  • The British Psychological Society (BPS) provides ethical guidelines to ensure research is conducted responsibly.
• 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) and also what their data will be used for.
• Participants must be given full details about the study so they can make an informed decision about whether to take part, without feeling obliged or being coerced.
• Informed consent may not always be possible, as it can affect behavior (e.g., if participants know the true aim, they may show demand characteristics).
• Dealing with informed consent:

  • researchers should issue participants with a consent form to provide clear information about the study’s purpose, procedures, risks, and the right to withdraw
  • participants must sign the form to participate
  • a parent must sign the consent form if the participant is under 16
• Alternative ways of dealing with informed consent:

  • Presumptive consent: asking a similar group of people if the study is acceptable, if they agree, then the consent of the original participants is ‘presumed’
  • Prior general consent: participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies, without knowing the full details
• Deception occurs when participants are deliberately mislead about the true nature of the study or information is withheld from them at any stage of the investigation.

  • this violates informed consent
  • can be justified if it does not cause participants distress
• Dealing with deception and protection from harm:

  • participants should be given a full debrief
  • made aware of the true aims of the investigation and any information withheld from them e.g. existence of other groups or experimental conditions
  • told what their data will be used for and given the right to withhold data if they wish
  • researcher should provide counselling if participants require it due to stress and embarrassment during study
• Protection from harm is an ethical guideline where participants should not be placed at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives.

  • They should be protected from physical and psychological harm (e.g. stress, anxiety, embarrassment).
  • Research should not cause long-term negative effects.
• Privacy and confidentiality are ethical guidelines.

  • privacy: participants have the right to control information about themselves; should not be studied in private spaces without consent.
  • confidentiality: participants’ personal data should be protected
• Dealing with privacy and confidentiality:

  • Anonymity: data should be kept anonymous e.g. using initials or participant numbers when writing up the study
  • Right to withdraw data: participants should be allowed to remove their information if they feel uncomfortable.
  • Secure Data Storage: Researchers must ensure data protection laws are followed.