Chapter 3: Ethical Research

1
Chapter 3 Ethical Research
2
Stanley Milgrams Obedience to Authority
Experiment (1961-1965) p38
3
Deception

• Occurs when information is withheld from
  participants or when participants are
  intentionally misinformed about an aspect of the
  research pp44-46

4
Deception is justified only when

• the study is very important
• no other methods for conducting research are
  available
• deception would not influence the individuals
  decision to participate in the research
• pp44-46

5
Debriefing involves

• informing participants after the experiment about
  reasons for the deception
• discussing any misconceptions
• removing harmful effects of deception
• p47

6
Debriefing also includes

• educating people
• helping people feel good about their
  participation
• educating the researcher about the experience of
  the participant

7
AmericanPsychologicalAssociation Ethics Code

• Beneficience
• Responsibility
• Integrity
• Justice
• Respect for Peoples Rights and Dignity
• p53

8
Beneficence p39

• Doing or producing good
• Maximize benefits and minimize harmful effects of
  participation

9
Responsibility

• Being faithful

• Accuracy in details

10
Integrity Justice p50

• Adherence to a code of moral, artistic, or other
  values

• Conformity to truth, fact, or reason

11
Respect for Peoples Rights and Dignity
(Autonomy) p42
 
 

• Dignity The state of being worthy, honored, or
  esteemed

12
Institutional Review Board (IRB)

• Reviews all research involving human participants
  p50

13
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
(IACUC)

• Reviews research to make sure animals are treated
  humanely p57

14
Risk/benefit ratio

• A subjective evaluation of the costs and benefits
  of a research project to participants, society,
  and the researcher and institution p39
• Relies on consensus of opinion among committee
  members

15
Assessment of Risks and Benefits p39

• Potential Risks
• Physical harm
• Psychological stress
• Loss of confidentiality and privacy

• Potential Benefits
• Direct benefits, such as educational benefit, new
  skill, or treatment for a psychological or
  medical problem
• Material benefits
• Personal satisfaction
• Educational Benefit

16
Minimal risk

• The harm or discomfort participants may
  experience is not greater than what they might
  experience in their daily lives or during routine
  physical or psychological tests p51

17
Confidentiality

• A way to protect participants from social risk
  pp41
• Maintaining participant confidentiality requires
• removing any identifying information
• reporting research results in terms of
• statistical averages

18
Written informed consent

• Essential when participants are exposed to more
  than minimal risk p42
• Individuals unable to provide legal consent must
  provide their assent.
• assent agreement

19
Informed consent

• A persons explicitly expressed willingness to
  participate in a research project based on a
  clear understanding of
• the nature of the research,
• the consequences of not participating, and
• all the factors that might be expected to
  influence that persons willingness to
  participate p42

20

• p43

21
Nuremberg Code, 1948

• Adopted by the United Nations after the second
  World War
• Originally formulated to guide the conduct of
  biomedical research subsequently adopted by the
  APA

22
Tuskegee Syphilis Study, 1932-1972 p50

• A famous case of research misconduct in the
  United States

23
The Belmont Report, 1979 p39

• Further defined the APA Ethics Code
• Focused on
• Beneficience
• Respect for people
• Justice

24
Privacy

• The right of individuals to decide how
  information about them is communicated to others
  p41

25
Things to consider when deciding whether behavior
is public or private

• Sensitivity of the information
• Setting of the information
• Method of dissemination of information
• p41

26
Ethical standards for reporting psychological
research include

• Giving publication credit
• Reporting data accurately
• Being honest (never fabricating data)
• Citing others work properly (plagiarism is
  forbidden!)
• pp59-62

27

• pp61-62