Ethics

• What is an ethical issue?

  Conflict between what researcher needs to do in order to conduct useful & meaningful research & rights of participants.
• What are the 5 ethical issues?

  Valid consent, deception, risk of harm, confidentiality & privacy.
• When might it be difficult to avoid invasion of privacy?


  Studying participants without their awareness e.g, in field experiment.
• What is privacy?


  Person's right to control flow of information about themselves.
• What is confidentiality?


  Concerns the communication of personal information from one person to another & the trust that the information will be protected.
• What is deception?


  Participant not told true aims of study (e.g, what participation will involve) & thus can't give valid consent.
• What is valid consent?


  Participants given comprehensive information concerning nature & purpose of research & their role in it in order that they can make an informed decision about whether to participate.
• What is risk of harm?


  During research study participants shouldn't experience negative physical or psychological effects e.g, physical injury, lowered self-esteem or embarrassment beyond what would be normal for them to experience.
• Privacy from participants' view:


  People don't expect to be observed by others in certain situations e.g, when in the privacy of own home, while they might expect this when sitting on park bench in public.
• When might it be difficult to protect confidentiality?

  Researcher wishes to publish findings. May guarantee anonymity but may be obvious who has been involved in study. E.g, knowing that a study of kids in hospital was conducted in Isle of Wight could permit some people to be able to identify participants as target group has been narrowed down. E.g, Bowlby.
• What is debriefing?


  Post-research interview informing participants of true nature of study & to restore them to state they were in at start of study.
• Evaluate right to withdraw:

  May feel they can't as it might spoil study. May be paid or rewarded in some way so may feel unable to withdraw.
• What is right to withdraw?

  Stop participating in study if uncomfortable.
• Evaluate debriefing:


  Can't change fact some participants feel cheated due to deception or embarrassed by their behaviour despite reassurances.
• What are ethical guidelines?

  Principles designed to help professionals behave honestly & with integrity.
• Evaluate ethical guidelines:


  Rather general due to virtual impossibility of covering every conceivable situation researcher may encounter. Absolve researcher of any responsibility- 'I followed guidelines so research acceptable'. Closes of discussions.
• What is an ethics committee?

  Group within research institution that must approve study before it begins.
• Disadvantages of valid consent given:

  If given full info about study, may invalidate purpose of study. Doesn't guarantee participants understand what they've let themselves in for.
• What is presumptive consent?


  Deal with lack of valid consent or deception by asking group similar to participants whether they would agree to take part in study. If this group consents to procedures in proposed study, it's presumed real participants would have agreed.
• Issue with presumptive consent:


  What people expect that they will or will not mind can be different from actually experiencing it.