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Ethical issues in research
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Psychologists must protect the people who take part in their research. Ethical issues arise when a study could harm participants or treat them unfairly.
The five ethical issues
Deception: participants should not be misled or lied to. Sometimes mild deception is needed, so participants must be debriefed (told the true aims) afterwards.
Confidentiality: personal information must be kept private. Participants should not be named; numbers or initials can be used instead.
Right to withdraw: participants must be told they can leave the study at any time, and can withdraw their data afterwards.
Protection of participants: participants should not be put at more risk of physical or psychological harm than in everyday life. They should leave in the same state as they arrived.
Dealing with ethical issues
Debriefing: at the end, explain the true aims, answer questions and check participants are OK.
Prior general consent or presumptive consent can be used when full informed consent would spoil the study.
Research proposals are usually checked by an ethics committee before they start.
Spotting issues in studies
Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961): young children were exposed to aggression and frustrated, raising protection of participants issues.
Freud (1909): private details of a young child's life were published, raising confidentiality issues (he was given a nickname, Little Hans).
A researcher tells participants a study is about eyesight when it is really about obedience. Which ethical issue is this and how should it be dealt with?
- Participants were misled about the aim: deception.
- They should be fully debriefed at the end and told they can withdraw their data.
Answer: Deception; deal with it by debriefing and offering the right to withdraw data.
The five ethical issues are informed consent, deception, confidentiality, right to withdraw and protection of participants. They are dealt with by briefing, debriefing, keeping data anonymous, reminding people they can leave, and approval from an ethics committee.
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