ethical issues

• Ethical issues


  Arise when a conflict exists between the rights of participants in research studies and the goals of research to produce authentic, valid and worthwhile data
• BPS code of ethics


  A quasi-legal document produced by the British Psychological Society (BPS) that instructs psychologists in the UK about what behaviours are and are not acceptable when dealing with participants. The code is built around four major principles: respect, competence, responsibility and integrity
• Briefing and debriefing


  1. When participants arrive to take part in a study they are given a briefing so they can provide informed consent and told what they will be asked to do, and told some or all of the aims of the research

  2. After the research has taken place, participants will be debriefed
• Informed consent


  • Prospective participants in studies should know what they are agreeing to before they get into the study. Informed consent involves making participants aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, their rights including the right to withdraw participation through the investigation should they so wish and also what their data will be used for. Participants should then make an informed judgement whether or not to take part without being coerced or feeling obliged
• Deception


  • Deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation. Despite that, there are occasions when deception can be justified if it does not cause the participant undue distress
• Protection from harm


  • Participants should not be placed at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives, and should be protected from physical and psychological harm. The latter includes being made to feel embarrassed, inadequate or being placed under undue stress or pressure. An important feature of protection from harm is participants being reminded of the fact that they have the right to withdraw from the investigation at any point
• Privacy and confidentiality


  • Participants have the right to control information about themselves. This is the right of privacy if this is invaded then confidentiality should be protected. Confidentiality refers to our right, enshrined in law under the Data Protection Act, to have any personal data protected
• The ethical issues discussed apply to all the different research methods used in psychology - they may seem as if they just apply to experiments but this is not the case
• Ways of dealing with ethical issues

  The British Psychological Society (BPS) has its own BPS code of ethics and this includes a set of ethical guidelines. Researchers have a professional duty to observe these guidelines when conducting research - they won't be sent to prison if they don't follow them but they may well lose their job. The guidelines are closely matched to the ethical issues discussed and attempt to ensure that all participants are treated with respect and consideration during each phase of research. Guidelines are implemented by ethics committees in research institutions who often use a cost-benefit approach to determine whether particular research proposals are ethically acceptable
• Dealing with informed consent

  Participants should be issued with a consent letter or form detailing all relevant information that might affect their decision to participate. Assuming the participant agrees, this is then signed. For investigations involving children under 16, a signature of parental consent is required. There are other ways to obtain consent, which are described on the right
• Dealing with deception and protection from harm


  1. At the end of a study, participants should be given a full debrief. Within this, participants should be made aware of the true aims of the investigation and any details they were not supplied with during the study, such as the existence of other groups or experimental conditions

  2. Participants should also be told what their data will be used for and must be given the right to withdraw during the study and the right to withhold data if they wish. This is particularly important if retrospective consent is a feature of the study (see right)

  3. Participants may have natural concerns related to their performance within the investigation, and so should be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal. In extreme cases, if participants have been subject to stress or embarrassment, they may require counselling, which the researcher should provide
• Dealing with confidentiality


  1. If personal details are held these must be protected. However it is more usual to simply record no personal details, i.e. maintain anonymity. Researchers usually refer to participants using numbers or initials when writing up the investigation. In a case study, psychologists often use initials when describing the individual or individuals involved

  2. Finally it is standard practice that during briefing and debriefing, participants are reminded that their data will be protected throughout the process and told that the data will not be shared with other researchers