Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them

• Conflict - when a conflict exists between the rights of participants and the aims of the research.


  BPS code of conduct is a legal document to protect participants based on four principles: respect, competence, responsibility, and integrity.

  Ethics committees weigh up costs and benefits before deciding whether a study should go ahead.
• Informed consent - participants should be able to make an informed judgement about whether to take part.


  Too much information may affect participants' behaviour, so different types of consent are used:

  • Presumptive - ask a similar group
  • Prior general - agree to be deceived
  • Retrospective - get consent after the study
• Deception - deliberately misleading or withholding information so consent is not informed.


  At the end of the study, participants should be given a debrief where they are advised of:

  1. The true aims of the investigation.
  2. Details that were not given during the study.
  3. What their data will be used for.
  4. Their right to withhold data.
• Protection from harm - participants should be at no risk than they would be in everyday life.

  • Should be given the right to withdraw at each stage of the research process.
  • Should be reassured that their behaviour was typical/normal during the debriefing.
  • Researcher should provide counselling if participants have been distressed.
• Right to control privacy and confidentiality

  We have the right to control information about ourselves. If this is invaded, confidentiality should be respected.

  • If personal details are held these must be protected. Usually, though, no personal details are recorded.
  • Researchers refer to participants using numbers, initials, or false names.
  • Participants' personal data cannot be shared with other researchers.