Ethical Issues

Cards (11)

  • general areas of ethical consideration for when doing research
    • Privacy
    • Deception
    • Debrief/Brief
    • Informed consent
    • Right to withdraw
    • Protection from mental or physical harm
    • Confidentiality
  • main ethical issues that occur in psychological research
    • Deception
    • Lack of informed consent
    • Lack of protection of participants
  • Right to withdraw
    Participants should be aware that they can leave the study (or remove their data from the study) at any time, even if they have been paid to take part
  • protection from mental or physical harm
    Participants should be protected from physical or mental harm, including stress - risk of harm must be no greater than that to which they are exposed in everyday life, and must leave in the same emotional state that they were in when they entered
  • Privacy
    Ensuring that participants are aware that they do not have to answer anything that may make them feel uncomfortable, thus protecting their privacy.
    In addition, you cannot observe people in private environments
  • Informed consent
    Psychologists should ensure that all participants are helped to understand fully all aspects of the research before they agree (give consent) to take part
  • Brief
    Telling the participant what will happen in the study before they agree to take part
    However may lead to demand characteristics
  • Confidentiality
    Participants results and personal information should be kept safely and not released to anyone outside of the study
  • Deception
    • Participants should not be deliberately lied to about the aim of the study and procedure
    • If not told the true aim, every step should be taken to ensure that there are no harmful effects to the participant
  • Ways to overcome deception

    • a thorough debrief
    • presence of ethics committee to stop experiment if they feel that it is harming participants
  • Debrief
    • After completing the research, the true aim is revealed to the participant.
    • Aim of debriefing = to return the person to the state they were in before they took part.