A01 -

• Why is it important to investigate socially sensitive research?

  Sieber and Stanley stated that it is important to study topics such as eating disorders, violence, and mental health as it allows us to understand causes and gain treatments. It is our role to investigate to increase our knowledge.
• Where in research process can ethical issues with social consequences occur?

  1.     Scientists have a responsibility for the way their research is being used

  2.     Sieber and Stanley produced a paper on ethical issues, that have social consequences, following the American psychological association offering no advice on how they should be resolved. Their paper offered a way forward.
• The research process identified 4 aspects at which ethical issues with social consequences may occur

  1)    The research questions 

  2)    Conduct of research and treatment of ppts

  3)    The institutional context

  4)    Interpretation and use of findings
• Investigation children or vulnerable people

  -       They cannot give consent themselves so you would need to gain informed consent for their parent or guardian. You need to inform the parents/carers of the true aim and the role that the ppt will undertake within the study and then leave them to decide to give informed consent. 

  -       Similar is true for vulnerable ppts, they need their career or someone in position of trust to consent to the research taking place- safe guarding procedure
• dealing with ethical issues

  1)debriefing and right to withdraw data

  2)presumptive consent- asking group of ppl from same target pop as the sample whether they would agree to take part in study, if yes then presume the sample would.
• definitions

  Socially sensitive research= Any research that might have direct social consequences for the participants in the research or the group that they represent. 

  BPS ethical guidelines= respect, competence, responsibility, and integrity.
•  Bowlby’s monotropic attachment theory = Bowlby was an advisor to the World Health Organisation in the 1950s, following his theory that the critical period for attachment formation with the primary caregiver was the first 2 years of life, and maternal deprivation during this time could have severe emotional and intellectual consequences for the child i.e., affectionless psychopathy/criminality and mental retardation. Therefore, this led to Britain being one of the only countries in the EU not offering free childcare for children under the age of 5.