ch 3: research ethics

what are the risks of scientific research?

• Result in physical/psychological harm

• Right to privacy violated

• Research question uninteresting/poorly designed - waste of time, money, effort - misunderstood, misapplied

what are the benefits of scientific research?

• Receiving helpful treatment

• Learning about psychology

• Experiencing satisfaction of contributing to scientific knowledge

• Receiving money or course credit for participation

confederate

helps researcher by pretending to be real participant to induce certain reactions from real participants

autonomy

right to make own choices and take own actions free form coercion

informed consent

researchers obtain and document people's agreement to participate in a study after being fully informed

privacy

right to decide what info is shared with others

confidentiality

agreement not to disclose participants' personal info without consent or appropriate legal authorization

anonymity

names and other personally identifiable information is not collected at all

nuremberg code

set of 10 principles written in 1947 in conjunction with the trials of Nazi physicians accused of shockingly cruel research on concentration camp prisoners during WWII

declaration of Helsinki

created by the World Medical Council in 1964, standards added to the Nuremberg Code

protocol

detailed description of research

what is the belmont report?

federal guidelines created due to concern of the Tuskegee study

• Justice: importance of conducting research that distributes risks and benefits fairly across different groups at societal level

• Respect for persons: acknowledges individuals' autonomy and protection for those with diminished autonomy

• Beneficence: importance of maximizing the benefits of research while minimizing harms to participants and society

Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects

applies to research conducted, supported. Regulated by federal government

Institutional review board (IRB)

a committee that is responsible for reviewing research protocols for potential ethical problems

what is a consent form?

participants read and sign

• Good practice to tell participants about risks and benefits

• Not always necessary

what is deception?

• Misinformation about the purpose of a study

  • Not informing full design, true purpose

• Using confederates

• Using phony equipment

• Presenting participants with false feedback about the performance

what is debriefing?

• Informing participants as soon as possible of the study purpose

• Revealing any deception

• Correcting other misconceptions

pre-screening

procedure to identify and eliminate participants high at risk