RM- ethical guidelines

You can harm your participants if you can justify it.

What are the 7 ethical guidelines?

Protection from harm, right to withdraw from research, full debrief, informed consent, confidentiality, avoid deception and observational research

Ethical guidelines- protection from harm

Physical, mental, sexual and neglect

Ethical guidelines- right to withdraw from research

Participants can withdraw themselves or their data at any point from the research- this should be accepted by the researcher

Ethical guidelines- full debrief

The study is explained to the participant after it has taken place- the aim is to return you to the same emotional state as before the experiment

Ethical guidelines- INFORMED consent

Participants are told what the study is about- however, this may cause the participants to act differently

Ethical guidelines- confidentiality

Report must not contain anything that could be used to identify the participants

Ethical guidelines- avoid deception

If you lie to the participants, they can’t give informed consent

Ethical guidelines- observational research

We need to know the ethical limit of who you can observe (e.g. can observe someone in public but can’t observe someone who isn’t expecting to be observed (watching them in then their bedroom))

Ethics boards

Universities require you to propose your research to an ethics board before conducting research- they can either accept, send it back for edits or decline it. If any guidelines are broken you must justify it to the ethics board

What are the 4 British Psychological Society code of ethics and conduct

Respect, competence, responsibility and integrity

BPS code of ethics and conduct- respect

Treat people with dignity and respect their rights

BPS code of ethics and conduct- competence

Psychologists should have the skills and knowledge to do their job properly

BPS code of ethics and conduct- responsibility

Psychologists should protect their participants and avoid causing them harm

BPS code of ethics and conduct- integrity

Psychologists should be honest and avoid deception where possible