Ethical Guidelines and Practices for Psychological Research

Describe the term ‘ethics.’

Moral principles and codes of behaviour that apply to all psychologists, in particular the rules of conduct necessary when conducting research.

What is the basic role of the ethics committee?

Approval of research.
Monitor the progress of studies.
Data management.
Investigating complaints.

What are the 8 ethical guidelines?

1. Protection from harm (physical and psychological)
2. Informed consent
3. Withdrawl rights
4. Deception
5. Confidentiality
6. Privacy
7. Voluntary participation
8. Debriefing

Protection from Harm (physical and psychological).

Researcher's responsibility to protect participants' physical and psychological welfare. If participant encounters distress researcher must stop and provide access to counselling.

Informed Consent.

Researcher must obtain written, informed consent from each participant. Must be informed about the true nature and purpose of the experiment.

Withdrawl Rights.

Participant has the right to withdraw themselves and results from the experiment without any pressure to continue. Must be explained before research begins.

Deception.

Misleads or withholds information from the participants about the nature of the study.

Confidentiality.

How personal information is dealt with. Must ensure information collected remains private and is protected.

Privacy.

What personal information is collected. Collect only information that is relevant to the research.

Voluntary Participation.

A participant must be willing to take part or not in an experiment and must not experience any pressure or coercion to participate.

Debriefing.

The researcher must explain any deception, provide access to information, results and conclusions and provide support through counselling.

What are the three R's?

Reduction
Refinement
Replacement

Define reduction.

Comparable levels of information from the use of fewer animals.

Define refinement.

Methods that alleviate or minimise potential pain and distress.

Define replacement.

Methods that permit the given purpose of an activity or project to be achieved without the use of animals.