Ethical Implications and Socially Sensitive Research

• Ethical implications refer to the impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people, both within and outside the research context
• Socially sensitive research is a term that refers to any psychological research that has ethical implications that go beyond the research situation and affect people or groups in the wider society
• Seiber and Stanley (1998) identified a number of concerns that a researcher should be mindful of when conducting socially sensitive research
• Implications

  • a psychologist must consider the wider effects of their research so they’re not giving scientific acceptance for discrimination and prejudice
  • this includes considering the potential for harm to their participants and those affected by their research and attempt to minimise this in every way possible
  • a researcher should also ensure confidentiality so participation in SSR wouldn’t negatively impact participants
• Impact on public policy

  • a psychologist must consider what their research is going to be used for
• Validity of the research

  • some findings that are presented as objective and value free may actually be suspect and in some cases fraudulent
  • therefore, researchers need to be upfront about their own biases and preconceptions