Ethical issues

• Deception

  deliberately using uninformative, untruthful, irrelevant, or vague language for the purpose of misleading others at any stage of the investigation
• Right to withdraw

  Participants should be aware that they can leave the study at any time, even if they have been paid to take part without having an obligation of giving a reasoning.
• Informed consent

  Participants should be told this at the start of the research. No attempt should be made to encourage them to remain. They should be aware of the aims, procedures, their rights within the study.
• Protection from harm

  As a result of their involvement, participants should not be places at any more risk than they would be in their daily lives and should be protected from physical and psychological harm.
• Privacy and confidentiality

  Protect the privacy of the participant, generally by keeping all responses confidential. Participants should have the right to control information about themselves.
• British psychological society

  BPS introduced their most recent ethical 'code of conduct' and it has 4 main principles

  • Respect (for the dignity and worth of all persons)
  • Competence (maintaining high standards in their professional work)
  • integrity (being honest and accurate)
  • Responsibility (to their clients, to the public and to the science of psychology)
• Solution for deception

  At end of study, participants should be given a full debrief 

  Aware of the aims of the investigation and any piece of information that was it supplied at the start of the study

  Be told what their research will be used for

  • Must be given the right to withhold the data
• (not offering) solution for right to withdraw

  - Participants must be informed that they can leave the study at any point if they wish and have no obligation to disclose the reason why if they do.
• ( not offered ) informed consent solution

  They should be issued with a consent letter or form detailing all relevant information that might affect their decision to get the consent that is required.

  For ages under 16, a signature of a parental consent is required

  • Alternative consent can be sought: retrospective consent and prior general consent
• Protection from harm solution

  • Researchers have the responsibility to ensure the participants are not caused any long term physical or mental damage 
  • They should provide an ethic committee to ensure this is sufficiently minimised.
• Privacy and confidentiality solution

  Personal details are held meaning they must be protected or record no personal details.

  • Instead researchers could refer to participants using numbers or initials