College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education

2014/2015 – 2016/2017

SOCI 323

Social Psychology

Session 4 – The Ethics of using Deception in SocialPsychological Research

Lecturer: Dr. Peace Mamle Tetteh, Department of SociologyContact Information: ptetteh@ug.edu.gh

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Session Overview

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• Deception is one of the common techniques used in Social Psychologicalresearch. In this session we shall explain what deception is and how it isused. We shall explore the factors that would necessitate the useof deception and the implications of its use. We shall identify thestrategies that may be used to mitigate the ethical dilemmas associatedwith the use of deception in Social Psychological research.

• At the end of the session, the student will understand what deception in Social Psychological research is and how itis employed be able to mention the various implications of the use of deception for

the research participants, the research process and outcomes and forfuture researches.

be able to identify the strategies that can be employed to mitigatethe

effects of the use of deception

Session Outline

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The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• What is Deception?

• How is Deception is used in Social Psychological Research?

• Ethical issues with the use of Deception.

• Mitigating the implications of Deception.

Reading List

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• Read chapter one of the recommended text and thearticle on this session posted on Sakai.

Topic One

DEFINING DECEPTION

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What is Deception?

• Deception is a technique where researchers withholdor conceal information about the purposes or proceduresof a study from persons participating in it.

• In other words deception is misleading participants aboutthe true purpose of a study or the events that will actuallyoccur.

• Deception is used in situations in which information aboutsuch matters might be expected to change thesuďjeĐt’s behaviour, thus invalidating the results of theresearch.

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How Deception is used

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Deception is done:

iii. using confederates or accomplices i.e. peopleworking with the researcher who pretend tobe participants.

i. by omission of key information about an

ii. experiment,

provision of false or misleading information,

Ethical Issues with using Deception

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Deception raises many ethical challenges which include:

• the fact the participants misled may resent being deceived.

• some people may develop negative attitudes towards Social Psychologicalresearch or research in general when they find out they have been deceived by aresearcher

•The evidence that to some degree, some persons may even become suspiciousof information from researchers, which is a real challenge for the future ofthis discipline.

•The fact that some participants may experience some discomfort (stress,anger, shifts in self esteem etc). This may be the case in situations where peoplehave been exposed to others in situations that seemed like emergencies, or aseizure (Latane & Darley 1968)

•Now the question is, is it right to put people through these just for the sake ofresearch? Is it all right to invade people’s privacy to conduct a research?

When to use Deception

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• There are some benefits from using deceptionPsychological research.

in Social

• However there is a need to control the effects of deceptionused in a research because of the several ethicalquestions and debates that surround its use.

• First you must use deception only where it is absolutelynecessary and only where there is no other meansof obtaining the information you need.

• Secondly, you must be extremely careful to ensure thatthe rights, safety and wellbeing of participants are protected.This is done by using the safeguards of informed consentand debriefing.

Safeguard 1- Informed Consent

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• Informed consent refers to a procedure in whichresearch participants are provided with as muchinformation as possible about a research project beforedeciding whether to participate in it (Baron et al, 2006).

• Aronson et al explain it to be an agreement to participate inan experiment granted in full awareness of the nature of theexperiment, which has been explained in advance.

• Thus, prior to partiĐipants’ decision to take part in aresearch; they are given a full description of theprocedures to be followed. Thus, they know what they aregetting into.

Safeguard 2- De-briefing

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• This is done at the end of a research. It is a procedure inwhich participants are given full information aboutthe nature of the research and the hypothesesunder investigation.

• Participants are made aware of the true purpose of thestudy and why particular approaches or procedure wereused are explained.

• All questions that participants may have areanswered and negative reactions are dealt with sothat at least, participants leave as they came.

Sample Question

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• Identify any Social Psychological research topicwhich can only be studied only with the use ofdeception. Which of the safeguards would be mostappropriate to use in this instance and why?

References

• Robert, B. and Branscombe, N. (2012). Social Psychology.13th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.

• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. & Akert, R. (2007) SocialPsychology.

6th Edition. Pearson Education Inc.

• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. & Akert, R. (2010) SocialPsychology.

7th Edition. Pearson Education Inc.

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