6. ethical issues and dealing with them

what are ethical issues

they 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

what is the BPS code of ethics

• a quasi-legal document produced by the BPS that instructs psychologists in the UK about what behaviour is and is not acceptable when dealing with participants

• the code is built around four major principles: respect, competence, responsibility and integrity

• guidelines are implemented by ethics committees who use a cost benefit approach to determine whether particular proposals are ethically acceptable

four major ethical issues

1. informed consent

2. deception

3. protection from harm

4. privacy and confidentiality

informed consent

• involves making the participants aware of the aims of the research, the procedures, their rights (incl right to withdraw) and what their data will be used for

• participants should then make an informed judgement without being coerced or feeling obliged

• researchers POV it may make the study meaningless as their behaviour will not be natural as they are aware of the aims

dealing with informed consent

• participants should be issued with a consent letter/form detailing all relevant information that may affect their decision to participate which is then signed if they agree

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types of consent

• presumptive - a similar group of people are asked if the study is acceptable and if they agree then the consent of the original participants is ‘presumed’

• prior general - participants give their permission to take part in a number of different studies incl the one that will involve deception. by consenting, they are effectively consenting to being deceived

• retrospective - asked for consent during debrief

deception

• means deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the investigation

• if decieved, then they have not provided informed consent

• 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 - latter includes being made to feel embarrased, inadequate or being placed under undue stress or pressure

• important feature is being reminded of the right to withdraw

dealing with deception and protection from harm

• should be given a full debrief - made aware of true aims and additional details that were not supplied

• should be told the use of their data and the right to withdraw it if they wish (particularly important with retrospective consent)

• researcher should provide counselling if the participants have been subject to stress or embarrassment

privacy and confidentiality

• right to privacy - to control information about themselves

• if this is invaded then confidentiality should be protected - refers to our right, enshrined in law under the data protection act, to have any personal data protected

• right to privacy extends to the area where the study took place such that institutions or geographical locations are not named

dealing with confidentiality

• maintain anonymity - referring to participants using numbers or initials when writing up the investigation, for case studies often initials are used eg HM

• participants are reminded data will be protected and not shared with other researchers