ethics

• -          the British psychological society is a professional body that covers the conduct of psychologist workings in all areas conducting research.
• -          researchers have a set of ethical guidelines developed by the Society that they have to adhere to when conducting research these actors’ moral codes and guide behaviour
• ethical guidelines include.

  -          confidentiality- accepting circumstances specified by the law information obtained about participants during an investigation is confidential unless otherwise agreed in advance - participants in psychological research have the right to expect the information they provide will be treated confidentially and if published will not be identifiable as theirs
• ethical guidelines include.

  -          debriefing- participants should leave as they entered the study the investigator should provide the participants with any necessary information to complete their understanding of the nature of the research and the investigator should discuss with the participants their experience of the research in order to monitor any unforeseen negative effects or misconceptions.
• ethical guidelines include.

  -          right to withdraw- participants must be made aware that they can withdraw from the investigation at any stage, refuse to take part, refuse to continue during the procedure all withdraw their results after debriefing and participants should never be told that they cannot withdraw
• ethical guidelines include.

  -          protection of participants- participants must not be harmed by the investigations procedures no stress or distress can be caused- psychological or emotional harm is not allowed to take place and loss of self-esteem is considered psychological harm.
• ethical guidelines include.

  -          deception- withholding information or misleading participants is unacceptable if the participants are typically likely to show unease once debriefed- intentional deception of participants over the purpose an general nature of the investigation should be avoided whenever possible- although it might be impossible to study some psychological processes without withholding information about the true object of the study or without deliberately misleading the participant
• ethical guidelines include.

  -          informed consent- whenever possible the investigators should inform all participants of the objectives of the investigation the participants should be informed by the investigator of all aspects of the research or interventions that might reasonably be expected to influence their willingness to participate- research with children or with vulnerable participants also requires special safeguarding procedures.
• How to write ethics material

  -          if an exam you asked to write either an informed consent form or a debriefing for a fictional study you need to know what information goes in each
• How to write ethics material

  -          in an informed consent form you need to include- the topic being investigated and explain to the participants what they are expected to do during the study and explain anything that might affect participants willingness to participate it's also important you inform them that their results our name will remain confidential and tell them that they can withdraw anytime including after the procedure has finished you must also leave space for them to sign and give the participant the opportunity to ask any questions
• How to write ethics material

  -          in a debriefing form you must thank the participants for taking part,  tell the participants the specific hypothesis/ research question you were investigating And inform the participants of what you expect to find based on past research, you must also remind participants they can withdraw their results at any time and how to contact you should they wish to withdraw- you should also aim to lower the participants levels of anxiety if needed and if necessary guide them to a source of support and give the participants opportunities to ask any questions too