Ethics

• What is ethics:

  • The set of moral principles used by researchers to describe how participants in research should be treated.
  • Applies to all stages in research
• Describe the term ethical guidelines:

  • Codes of practice
  • Designed to be followed as a guide by people invovled in psychological research
  • Allow people to understand what is deemed right and wrong
  • How to apply knowledge to research procedures
• Role of ethics committee?

  • The role of these ethics committee’s is to review research proposals that plan to use human participants to make sure that they meet the guidelines in the Australian code of ethics.
• How do ethics committees make there decision?

  • The ethics committee will decide whether there has already been similar completed research that nullifies the purpose of the current proposal, and whether the risk to participants welfare outweighs any benefit the research would have to society.
• What do ethics committees do once approved the research?

  Once approved the ethics committee will monitor the research study and is able to step in and stop the study from continuing if they suspect that any ethical guidelines have been breached. 
• List all ethical guidelines:

  • Protection from harm
  • Informed consent
  • Withdrawal rights
  • Confidentiality
  • Privacy
  • Voluntary Participation
  • Deception in research
  • Debriefing
• Explain the ethical guideline: Protection from harm

  • Researchers must protect the physical and psychological wellbeing  of participants
  • Debrief participants, to reduce the risk of psychological harm
• Explain the ethical guideline: Informed Consent

  • Participants agree (in writing) to take part in a study knowing the aim, procedures and any risks involved with the research.
  • This is outlined and signed within a consent form.
• What should a consent form include:

  1. Nature and purpose of intended procedures
  2. Clarifying foreseeable risks, adverse effects and possible disadvantages of intended procedures.
  3. How information will be collected and recorded
  4. How, where and for how long information will be stored; and who will have access to stored information.
  5. Advising participants of the right to withdraw
  6. Explaining confidentiality and any limits to confidentiality.
  7. Providing any other relevant information.
• What to do if participants unable to sign consent form?

  • If participants are under 18 or if they lack the intellectual ability to give informed consent, they need to have their legal guardian provide consent on their behalf.
• Explain the ethical guideline: Voluntary participation

  • Participants must freely choose to participate in the research without pressure or negative consequences.
• Explain the ethical guideline: Withdrawal rights

  Participants have the right to withdraw at any time or have their results withdrawn without consequence.
• Explain the ethical guideline: Confidentiality

  • Researchers must ensure that all data collected is kept secure so that no participant’s information is shared or accessible to anyone except the researcher.
• Explain the ethical guideline: Privacy

  • Only information relevant to the study should be collected from participants
  • Privacy is concerned with what information from participants is collected.
• Explain the difference between privacy and confidentiality:


  Privacy relates to what information is collected , whereas confidentiality relates to how the information is dealt with.
• Explain and give an example of the ethical guideline: Deception in research

  • Participants are misled or wrongly informed about the aims of the research
  • Milgram's study of obedience
• When can a researcher use deception in research?

  When there is no other alternative.

  Participants must be deceived as little as possible

  Any deception must not cause distress.

  Participants are debriefed about the nature and reasons for deception

  Counselling or appropriate support offered.
• Explain the ethical guideline: Debriefing

  An explanation given to participants at the conclusion of a study.

  If there was deception in the study, participants need to be informed about it.

  An opportunity for counselling should be provided, any mistaken beliefs participants may have formed during the study must be dispelled, and the participants right to remove their results from the study needs to be upheld.  
• Explain the ethical guideline: Use of animals in research

  • Must respect for the animals
  • Respect can be demonstrated using the 3R’s; replacement, reduction and refinement.