Ethical implications

• Ethical implications

  Refers to the impact or consequences that psychological research has on the rights of other people in a wider social context, not just the participants taking part in the research.
• Socially sensitive research

  • Sieber and Stanley, define socially sensitive research as ‘studies in which there are potential social consequences e.g discrimination, political change and reinforcing stereotypes, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research.
• Ethical implications in Milgram’s experiment on obedience

  • Participants were deceived, they were unable to provide fully informed consent which meant the experiment was distressing.
  • After being debriefed and participants in a follow up interview, participants said they suffered no long-term psychological effects.
  • However individuals may be less inclined to take responsibility for their actions.
• Ethical implications in Bowlby’s theory of attachment

  • Children form one special attachment bond usually with their mother which must take place during the critical period.
  • Bowlby suggested that this attachment bond affects their future relationships through an internal working model.
  • While Bowlby’s theory has contributed to the development of childhood practices, it has also encouraged to the view that a womens place is in the home, which could make some mothers feel guilty for wanting to return to work following on from childbirth.
• Ethical implications of Loftus research on eyewitness testimony

  • Loftus’s research on eyewitness testimony, research that found peoples ability to recall crime events accurately was poorer than people thought and was affected by leading questions and anxiety.
  • Leading to more people being wrongly convicted due to mistaken eyewitness testimony.
  • The research would have encouraged police forces to use other more reliable means of evidence such as DNA testing.
• 4 ways to deal with socially sensitive research

  • Research question
  • Methodology used
  • Institutional context
  • Interpretation and application of findings
• Who introduced ways of dealing with socially sensitive research?

  Sieber and Stanley
• Research question

  • The researcher must consider their research question carefully
  • Asking questions like ‘Are there racial differences in IQ’ Or ‘is intelligence inherited’
  • This may be damaging to members of a particular group.
• Methodology used

  • The researcher must consider the treatment of the participants, and their right to confidentiality and anonymity.
  • For example, if someone admits to committing a crime, should the research maintain confidentiality.
• Institutional context

  • Research should be mindful of how the data is going to be used and consider who is funding the research.
  • If research is funded by a private institution or organisation why are they funding the research and how do they intend to use the findings
• Interpretation and application of findings

  • Finally the researcher must consider how their findings will be interpreted and applied in the real world.
  • Could their data or results be used to inform policy
• Benefits for groups that are studied

  • Kinsey et al, looked at homosexuality in 1952, the DSM listed this as a sociopathic personality disorder, but then removed it 1973.
  • Change has been credited to Kinsey’s report which was based on anonymous interview with over 5000 men and their sexual behaviour.
  • Report concluded that homosexuality is a typical expression of human sexual behaviour.
  • Therefore this suggests the importance of researchers tackling topics that are sensitive.
• Real world application

  • Policymakers rely on research related to socially sensitive research
  • Research is used when making policies about education, childcare and mental health provision. It is much better to base policies on scientific research rather than politically motivated opinions.
  • There are independent groups such as ONS who describe themselves as being responsible for collecting and analysing statistics about the UK’s economy and population. Such data that is used in psychological research.
  • Psychologists have an important role in providing high quality research on sensitive topics.
• Poor research design

  • May lead to erroneous findings which have had an impact for a long time
  • Burt, was influential in establishing the 11+ as it was presumed intelligence is genetic and that the level of intelligence has been revealed by the age of 11.
  • Some schools still use the 11+ and independent schools ask children to take an entrance exam because of the findings about natural intelligence.
  • Therefore any research on socially sensitive topics need to be planned with care due to the effects on particular groups of people.
• Dealing with socially sensitive research

  • Avoid it
  • The APA reported that ethical committees approved 95% of non-sensitive proposals that didnt include ethical problems, whereas sensitive topics were approved 50% of the time.
  • However, Sieber and Stanley advised that ignoring such topics is not a responsible approach. One possibility is for psychologists to use strategies employed by qualitative researchers and be more reflexitive- reflect on how personal beliefs affect the research process.
  • This suggests socially sensitive research can be research ethical