Ethics by Sneddon

8/22/2019 Ethics by Sneddon

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PSY1001: The Ethics of

Psychology Experiments

Dr Ian Sneddon


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This lecture will

Outline some broad ethical principles

Give examples of ethical problems you may facewhen designing experiments

Discuss the BPS Code of Conduct

Examine some of the practicalities of designing

ethical research and applying for ethicalapproval


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Further Reading

See Queens Online. includes

BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct (2006)

The Psychology of Big Brother The Guardian August 2005

Do The Ends Justify the Means? The Ethics ofDeception in Social Science Research

(Extract from Research Ethics: Fifteen Cases and Commentaries, Volume

1, Brian Schrag Editor)


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After attending the lecture and doingthe reading you should be able to Outline the principles of ethical research

involving human participants

Show evidence that you have thought aboutsome of the ethical dilemmas described in thereading and formed considered opinions

Demonstrate that you know how to obtainethical approval for a research project at QUB.


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Ethics

Ethics a system of principles governingmorality and acceptable conduct

Ethical review of research projects is necessaryto protect

Your participants (from harm)

You (from litigation)


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Harm Physical

Pain, discomfort, injury, death

Psychological Anxiety

Re-living unpleasant memories

Embarrassment humiliation or even feeling

stupid Need for Risk Assessment

Assess the possible risks to participants AND toyourself


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Ethical Code of Conduct BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct (2006)

http://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-

conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfm or follow links from School web-pages.School of Psychology Research Psychology Research Ethics British

Psychological Society Code of Conduct

But also see other BPS publications

Ethical Principles for conducting Researchwith Human Participants (1992)

Guidelines for Minimum Standards of EthicalApproval in Psychological Research (2004)
http://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfmhttp://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct_home.cfm


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Important Principles

Participation is voluntary

No coercion (negative consequences for not takingpart or positive inducement to encourageparticipation)

Informed Consent

Participants should be told what the experiment is

about before agreeing to take part Avoid deception if possible


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Important Principles (contd.)

Freedom to withdraw their consent at any time

Participants should be able to walk away without

explanation (even after agreeing to take part). Thisusually means destroying the data

Confidentiality of data

Participants need to be confident that details

about them or their behaviour are confidential Debriefing

Participants should be debriefed about theexperiment and allowed to ask questions


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Summary of Principles


Informed Consent required

Freedom to withdraw


Debriefing


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Example 1

You design an experiment to test if men or women are more accurate at

reading facial expressions of emotion

Very unlikely that viewing the photographs is going to harm participants

No need for deception

No need for names (as long as they tick a male/female box)

This example typifies most psychology research


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Example 2 Observing natural behaviour

You observe (or film) behaviour without theknowledge of the participants

What potential problems? Voluntary? Informed Consent? Able to withdraw?

People may object

Not necessarily obvious people are unpredictable

Public versus private

Debrief as soon as possible

Be sensitive to reaction


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Example 3

Do extraverts give up more easily than introvertswhen given a hard puzzle?

A full advance explanation of the purpose of theexperiment would probably affect the results

You could probably describe it as a study of

Personality and problem solving How would YOU feel on debriefing?

If the puzzle was made impossible to solve would that alter your views?


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Example 4

You design an experiment to study the effect ofgender on helping behaviour

Your accomplice asks for assistance and youobserve whether help is given by either men orwomen

Potential problems?

Many early social psychology experiments onconformity, obedience, bystander interventionetc. could be viewed as raising ethical issues


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In all cases

Try to put yourself in the position of the mostvulnerable participant

For instance, if you are studying attitudes tobaldness you should be alert to the possibilitythat some people find this a touchy subject

Your debriefing should be sensitive to issuessuch as performance anxiety or other moregeneral anxieties

People worry about all sorts of things


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Power

Experimenters may be seen as powerful figures some people may feel they have to take part

This may be particularly true with vulnerablegroups like:

Children

Psychiatric patients Prisoners

even in some cases..Students


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Psychology Students as Participants

Most Psychology Departments now require theirstudents to take part in some experiments as

part of their training

Is this ethical?

Now seen by many as an important aspect of

training particularly to improve sensitivity tothe issues discussed earlier

It is important that there is a wide choice ofpossible experiments to choose from


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Thinking about the ethics ofYOUR research project. Make sure you are familiar with the BPS Code of

Conduct

Dont view this as a nuisance to be overcomebefore starting your research

The procedure is part of the process of getting

your research design to be as good as it can be view it as an aid, particularly to getting thedetails right.


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The Ethics Approval Procedure Every experiment must receive formal written ethical

approval before any data are gathered

Final responsibility within the School for granting ethicalapproval lies with the Psychology Research Ethics

Committee (which meets monthly) Most undergraduate projects do not raise ethical

concerns and are dealt with using an accelerated process

For undergraduates this usually involves completing a

two page form with your supervisor Gives enough information for two academic staff to judge

whether the research is scientifically sound and ethicallysound


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The Ethics Approval Procedure (contd.)

If there are judged to be ethical issues raised by theproposed research, then you complete a longer form and

follow a more extensive procedure before approval isgranted

Both the short and long forms can be downloadedfrom the School website.

Follow links from School web-pages.

School of Psychology Research Psychology Research Ethics DownloadPsychology Research Ethics forms


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Interacting with Participants

Participants give their time and energy

It is vital that you make them aware how valuedtheir participation is and that they feel their timeand energy was well spent

Dealing with participants in a warm,

appreciative and consistent manner is anessential research skill no participants, noresearch!


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Summary of Principles


Informed Consent required

Freedom to withdraw


Debriefing


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Voluntary Participation

No coercion

Take particular care with vulnerable groups

Children

Parental consent is mandatory but best practiceshould involve also asking for consent from the child(in an age- appropriate manner)

Elderly

Prisoners etc.


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Informed Consent

Make sure participants are aware of anythingthat might influence their willingness to takepart for instance

What will they experience? How long will it take?

Will they be asked to come back?

Best practice is to ask for consent some timebefore the experiment

(To ensure they are not pressured into taking part)


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Informed Consent (contd.)

Agreement should be in writing

Participants should receive a brief informationsheet

(Note that for many simple questionnairestudies most of this is unnecessary.)

Participants should be told how the data will bereported

Note the difference between passive and activeconsent (particularly for parents giving consentfor their children).


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Deception/ Incomplete Disclosure

Some Ethical Codes (e.g. BPS) make adistinction between incomplete disclosure anddeliberate deception

Avoid deception if possible

But note that much psychological research would beimpossible without some form of deception orincomplete disclosure


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Deception/ Incomplete Disclosure

If you believe it is essential, you mustdemonstrate that there are no alternatives

You should inform participants as soon aspossible about the true nature of the study

Be sensitive to their reaction when the deception

is revealed (may involve pilot study)


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Anonymity/Confidentiality

Participants should remain anonymous and anyinformation about them remain confidential

(unless otherwise agreed in advance) So, consider whether you NEED participants

names at all.

In rare cases where participants might beidentifiable, they must be warned of this inadvance of agreeing to take part


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Research with animals Most research in the School is observational

E.g. Reaction to visitors at the zoo

Some research might involve innocuous

experimentation E.g. Introduction of some enrichment for a zooanimal

This research would need ethical approval within

the School Some students may be involved in conducting

psychopharmacology research

This research is under Home Office Licence


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Behaving Ethically

You have a responsibility to behaveprofessionally and ethically to protect you and

your participants, but also to protect thereputation of other psychology researchers.

Documents

Ethics by Sneddon