Ethical issues

• Ethical issues refer to conflicts about what is acceptable in research
• Researchers have a responsibility to protect the rights and the best interests of the participants they study and to conduct their research in an ethical manner
• To remember the ethical issues you can use the acronym "DIP With Chocolate"

  Deception

  Lack of Informed consent

  Lack of protection from harm

  Lack of right to withdraw

  Lack of confidentiality
• Deception is an issue that occurs when participants are deliberately mislead about the true nature of the study. This is an issue as informed consent cannot be gained due to participants not knowing what they are truly consenting to, it may also cause the participant to become distrustful of psychology studies in the future.
• To deal with deception, participants should be given a full debrief at the end of the study so they are aware of the true aims of the study and any details they were not aware of
• There are exceptions when participants can be deceived if it doesn't cause the participant any distress
• Lack of informed consent involves revealing the true aims and purpose of the research to the participants before giving them the choice of consenting or refusing to participate in the research.
• Name some situations where giving informed consent isn't possible

  Deception is being used

  Participants are unaware that they are part of research such as some field experiments and covert observations

  Participants may be unable to fully understand the nature of the study and make a balanced choice
• Failure to gain true informed consent may cause participants to be distrustful of psychology studies in the future
• Participants should be issued a consent letter detailing all the relevant information that might affect their decision to partake. If the participant agrees the form should be signed and if the participant is under 16 a signature of parental consent is required
• Lack of protection from harm refers to the researchers responsibility to ensure participants come to no more harm than they would in everyday life. This includes physically and psychologically.
• To deal with lack of protection from harm participants should be reminded of the fact that they have the right to withdraw, be allowed to withhold data and the researcher should provide counselling if its required
• Right to withdraw involves making participants aware before, after and during the research that it's their right to leave the study if they want to at any time. They should be allowed to have all their data removed afterwards as part of a "retrospective withdrawl"
• Lack of confidentiality - participants have the right for their data to remain anonymous and their personal details should not be given away by the researchers before, during or after the study
• Lack of confidentiality - researchers could refer to the participants as numbers when writing up investigations to protect their personal details. Participants should be debriefed at the end of the study and be reminded that their data will be protected throughout the process and not be shared with other researchers.
• If you are asked to write instructions for participants then they must be written in a way which means they are suitable to be read out loud to participants
• A consent form should include:

  • Thank the participant for their involvement
  • Inform them of the true aims of the study
  • Tell them exactly what they will be doing
  • Tell them how long it might take
  • Outline any ethical considerations like their right to withdraw
  • Ask them to sign and date a consent form to confirm agreement to participate
• A debrief should include:

  • thank them for participating
  • Explain that they have made a valuable contribution to this area of research
  • Explain the true aims of the study and if appropriate an explanation of why it was necessary to mislead them initially
  • If there was more than one condition, give details of what the participants in the other conditions did
  • Outline any ethical considerations
  • Ask them if they have any questions
• Standardised instructions should include:

  • Instructions should be clear and full details on the task they need to complete
  • Inform them of how long it will take
  • Outline ethical considerations
  • Ask if they have any questions
• The British Psychological Society came up with the code of ethics