Ethical Guidelines

• what is informed consent?


  researchers should tell potential p's exactly what is going to happen to them in the exp, and then ask them w/ out any pressure, if they are willing to take part.

  • researchers often feel they can't tell p's what the exp is about, because they may show demand characteristics.
  • children are often considered to be too young to give own consent, and consent of their parents/teachers is enough and should be gained.
• what is deception?

  lying to people and deceiving them about something to do w/ the study.

  the BPS guidelines say that you should try to avoid intentionally deceiving p's about the purpose & nature of the exp. in certain circumstances, deceiving your p's is acceptable & can be justified when:

  • it does not lead to harmful consequences for p's.
  • study is potentially very useful to society or our understanding.
  • not deceiving p's may make the research invalid. if p's are told exactly what study is about it may lead to demand characteristics.
• what is right of withdrawal?

  this means giving people the opportunity to leave the study at any time if they no longer want to take part.

  • means that they can withdraw from the study and that the researcher will not use any of their data.
  • p's should be told about their right to withdraw and if they are being paid for participating, they should be informed that they will still be paid if they drop out.
• what is harm to participants?

  p's should not be harmed, either physically or psychologically when participating in research.

  in practice, however, p's often suffer distress/pain during the course of an exp and considered acceptable as long as:

  • the harm is unacceptable, and the study could not carried out in any other way.
  • the harm is short-term and relatively minor.
  • the p's are not allowed to leave the study w/ any residual harm or distress.
• what is debriefing?

  telling the p's what the study was about before they leave.

  • this is one way to make sure that the p's leave the exp w/out suffering on-going distress or harm.
• what is confidentiality?

  means keeping personal info confidential.

  • it's clearly important that personal info given by p's during the course/results of study, are kept confidential. results can be published but they must not identify w/ the individual, either by name, etc.
  • p's should always be told that personal data will be confidential.
• what are ethical guidelines to consider in observational research?

  studies that observe p's in their natural environment must respect the privacy and psychological well-being of individuals studied. p's should either:

  • give their consent to being observed.

  OR

  • be observed in a situation where they would normally expect to be observed by strangers, e.g. public park/bus.
• what are incentives to take part?

  p's should not be offered bribed/promised rewards for their participation as this puts pressure on them to take part.