Psychology 1&2 key science skills

Integrity

(Ethical concept) the commitment to searching for knowledge and understanding, and the honest reporting of all sources of information and results

Justice

(Ethical concept) the moral obligation to ensure that there is fair consideration of competing claims, that there is no unfair burden on an individual from an action, and that there is fair distribution of benefits of an action

Beneficence

(Ethical concept) the commitment to maximising benefits and minimising risks and harms. the researcher must ensure that potential benefits to individuals or wider society outweigh any potential harms to participants

Non-malificience

(Ethical concept) the commitment to avoiding harm; it is not always possible to eliminate harm, but researchers must ensure that all efforts are made to minimise discomfort as much as possible, and that in circumstances when harm is unavoidable, that there is a benefit to the research

Respect

(Ethical concept) the consideration of the value of living things and considering the capacity of living things to make their own decisions

Confidentiality

(Ethical guideline) all personal details/information gathered from participants should be kept private; participants must remain anonymous

Voluntary participation

(Ethical guideline) participants must not be forced or coerced into to being involved in the study

Informed consent

(Ethical guideline) participants must be told about the nature and risks of a study, and their rights as a participant; they must sign a consent form (or if under 18 or have a cognitive impairment that makes genuine consent difficult, then a parent or legal guardian must sign)

Withdrawal rights

(Ethical guideline) participants are allowed to stop participating in the experiment at any time without reason or negative consequences; they can also ask to have their results removed once the study has been completed.

Use of deception

(Ethical guideline) sometimes, providing too much information in research can affect the accuracy of the results. When necessary, you can withhold some of the information about the study, providing it does not cause distress to the participants (benefits of the research outweigh the potential harms) and they are debriefed afterwards.

Debriefing

(Ethical guideline) Participants must always be provided with information about the nature, results and conclusions at the end of the study. Participants will also be provided with information about where to seek physical or psychological help if required.

Population

the entire group of research interest from which the sample is drawn

Sample

the group of people who are selected from the population to take part in the research - they are the participants

Correlational study

A correlational study is a non-experimental research method used to examine the relationship between two or more variables to determine whether they are associated or
linked in some way.

Internal validity

The extent to which an investigation measures what it claims to be measuring. In terms of controlled experiments, a study would be considered to have high levels of validity if the independent variable was found to be what caused the change in the dependent variable.

External validity

The extent to which the results of an investigation can be applied to similar individuals in different settings. Key question: Can the findings apply beyond this specific study?