8 Key excerpts on "Ethical considerations in research"

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  A Student's Guide to Studying Psychology

  • Thomas M. Heffernan(Author)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  5 Ethics in research

  This chapter highlights the major Ethical considerations in research.

  Before carrying out a piece of research in psychology, there are a number of ethical considerations that a researcher must bear in mind when designing a study. Some brief notes on the subject are provided here, but for a full consideration of formal criteria on ethics in research the reader is referred to the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2000) Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles and Guidelines, or the American Psychological Association (APA,2003) Research Ethics and Research Regulations.

  Ethical issues in research are to do with the way you conduct your research—the rights and wrongs. Psychologists are expected to conduct themselves in line with ethical guidelines that are set by bodies such as the British Psychological Society and the US equivalent the American Psychological Association. Not only do you have a duty to protect the rights of the participants in your study, but also to protect the reputation of the discipline under which name you are studying, psychology. In most cases, given the types of research conducted by the majority of psychology students, the only ethical considerations you need to ensure are that your subjects have consented to their participation in the study and that they are fully debriefed. However, in some cases where there is a risk of harming or causing psychological distress, then the researcher needs to adhere to the guidelines. Here are some of the major ethical considerations for a researcher.

  Ethical considerations when testing humans

  Considering the welfare of your participants

  As a researcher you must ensure that the participants in your study are protected from physical harm or from suffering psychological harm as a result of your manipulation(s). In some cases there is inevitably a risk (e.g., if you were administering a drug—say, to a patient in care—which might have some side effects), in which case you must go through the relevant ethics committee associated with that particular institute. In short, it is your duty to ensure the safety of your participants.

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  The Student's Guide to Studying Psychology

  • Thomas M Heffernan(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  5 Ethics in research DOI: 10.4324/9781315849430-5

  This chapter highlights the major Ethical considerations in research.

  Before carrying out a piece of research in psychology, there are a number of ethical considerations that a researcher must bear in mind when designing a study. Some brief notes on the subject are provided here, but for a full consideration of formal criteria on ethics in research the reader is referred to the British Psychological Society (BPS) (2009), Code of ethics and conduct on the BPS website or the American Psychological Association (APA) (2010) , Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct on the APA website.

  Ethical issues in research are to do with the way you conduct your research – the rights and wrongs, as well as how you conduct yourself with regards to carrying out your research. Psychologists are expected to conduct themselves in line with ethical guidelines that are set by bodies like the BPS and the US equivalent the APA. Not only do you have a duty to protect the rights of the participants in your study, but also to protect the reputation of the discipline under which name you are studying, psychology. In most cases, given the types of research conducted by the majority of psychology students, the only ethical considerations you need to ensure are that your subjects have consented to their participation in the study and that they are fully debriefed. However, in some cases where there is a risk of harming or causing psychological distress, then the researcher needs to adhere to the guidelines. Here are some of the major ethical considerations for a researcher.

  Ethical considerations when testing humans

  Considering the welfare of your participants

  As a researcher you must ensure that the participants in your study are protected from physical harm or from suffering psychological harm as a result of your manipulation(s). In some cases there is inevitably a risk (e.g., if you were administering a drug – say, to a patient in care – which might have some side effects), in which case you must go through the relevant ethics committ ee associated with that particular institute. In short, it is your duty to ensure the safety of your participants.

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  Laboratory Psychology

  A Beginner's Guide

  • Julia Nunn, Julia Nunn(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  Ethical principles in the conduct of research with human participants (revised edition). Washington, DC.

  Copyright © 1973 and 1982, APA. Reprinted with permission. (The APA cautions that the 1990 Ethical principles of psychologists are no longer current and that the guidelines and information provided in the 1973 and 1982 Ethical principles in the conduct of research with human participants are not enforceable as such by the APA Ethics code of 1992, but may be of educative value to psychologists, courts, and professional bodies.)

  A separate set of guidelines for animal research exists; however, as this book is primarily concerned with practices relevant to cognitive psychology, they have been omitted.

  As Kimmel (1996) has noted, few of the statements contained within the guidelines consist of absolute prohibitions. In most cases, the APA has clearly adopted a policy that emphasises the weighing of considerations that maximise benefits relative to costs (cost-benefit assessment). As a consequence, considerable thought and consideration on the part of the investigator is still required before ethical solutions may be reached.

  Although it is probably fair to say that the guidelines for psychological research provide a reasonable framework within which researchers can analyse ethical issues, ethical dilemmas are not solved simply by reading such guidelines! The next section provides a commentary on some methodological issues provoked by the core components of ethical guidelines.

  Translating ethical principles into valid research methods

  Informed consent and deception

  Informed consent means that the participants must be forewarned about those aspects of the research that may have detrimental effects. It is considered by many as the central norm governing the relationship between the investigator and the research participant. Although participants are not usually misled as to the nature of the experiences they will have during the experiment, they are however frequently misled as to the true purpose

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  Quantitative Research Methods in Consumer Psychology

  Contemporary and Data Driven Approaches

  • Paul Hackett, Paul Hackett(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  11 Ethical Issues in Conducting Psychological Research

  David B. Resnik

  1

  Ethics and Scientific Research

  Ethics (or morals) are standards of conduct, which distinguish between right and wrong, and good and bad. While all people in society have an obligation to behave ethically, ethical conduct is especially important in scientific research for several reasons. First, ethical conduct helps scientists obtain research goals. Fabricating and falsifying data are not effective means of obtaining truth. Second, ethical conduct is important for promoting collaboration and cooperation among psychological researchers. Researchers need to be able to trust that their collaborators and colleagues will not fabricate or falsify data, intentionally bias results, steal ideas or data, or violate the confidentiality of peer review. Third, ethical conduct is important for holding psychological researchers accountable to the public and fostering the public’s support for research. The public is not likely to fund or participate in research that it regards as unethical (Shamoo & Resnik, 2015).

  Professional societies, government agencies, academic institutions, and scientific journals have developed various rules and guidelines to promote the ethical conduct of research (Shamoo & Resnik, 2015). Some of these, such as rules concerning misconduct (discussed next), are enforced by legal or administrative sanctions. Others, such as professional codes, may be enforced only by the expectations of one’s peers. The American Psychological Association (2010) has a code of ethics that addresses research conduct. Other professional societies for psychological research have similar documents. Many journals that publish psychological research follow the guidelines developed by the American Psychological Association (APA) or the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (2015a, b). University policies deal with various ethical issues in research, such as misconduct, conflict of interest, intellectual property, and research with humans and animals (Shamoo & Resnik, 2015).

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  Issues, Debates and Approaches in Psychology

  • Ian Fairholm(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury Academic

    (Publisher)

  Psychology is involved with a number of real-life situations that raise ethical issues, and these mainly relate to the duty of care that psychologists have, whether to patients or clients in the case of clinical psychologists or psychotherapists, or to participants or subjects in the case of psychological research. Fundamentally, the basic ethical issues raised in psychology are not surprising, nor are they particularly different from those found in other occupations or sciences, though one distinction that psychology shares with some other sciences is that it studies both animals and human beings.

  Not surprisingly, the ethical issues for animals and human beings are not exactly the same, something that is reflected in animals and humans having two separate chapters in this book. It’s also reflected in the terms often used to describe animal and human involvement in psychological research. For more than 100 years the term subjects was used to describe individuals taking part in psychology experiments, whether they were humans or animals. However, more recently a distinction has been made between subjects and participants, with the former commonly referring to animals and the latter referring to human beings.

  I will explain later why the single term of subjects came to be used for both animals and humans throughout much of the twentieth century, and why more recently a distinction has been made between the two via the introduction of the term ‘participants’, but it’s not essential to know this just yet.

  The key thing to appreciate here is that although psychological associations, and other such professional bodies from around the world, may have slightly different ethical rules, the fundamental ethical standards they follow are very similar. Psychologists are expected to act in honest, just and non-discriminatory ways towards human beings, to treat all people and animals in a respectful, responsible, competent and professional manner, and to protect participants and subjects and, wherever possible, keep them from harm.

  This might sound like a tall order for the individual psychologist who has to follow strict ethical regulations and maintain high moral standards but fortunately psychologists do not operate alone. Not only can every psychologist refer to the guidelines set down by his or her professional body, and gain advice from colleagues within the same institution, it is also now commonplace at most academic and research institutions for there to be some form of special committee that reviews research proposals and considers the ethical issues raised by them.

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  Being a Sport Psychologist

  • Richard Keegan(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury Academic

    (Publisher)

  2 Ethical Considerations: Protecting the Client, Yourself and Your Profession

  2.1  Introduction and overview

  This chapter highlights the importance of ethical considerations as the very foundation of a sport psychologist’s practice, emphasizing that ethical issues permeate every aspect of the sport psychologist’s role. Put simply, ethical considerations pertain to morals – and can be construed both as an outcome of practice and a process one undertakes (Hays, 2006; also called ‘virtue’ ethics by Aoyagi & Portenga, 2010). Definitions of ethics as an outcome include both codes of behaviour considered correct; or the moral fitness of a decision, or course of action. In contrast, ethics as a process can be defined as the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it. In the words of Pope and Vasquez (1998, p. xiii), ethics can also be ‘a process through which we awaken, enhance, inform, expand and improve our ability to respond effectively to those who come to us for help’. Notably, if one has a strong ethical process, then the resultant ethical outcomes should be much more defensible.

  In this chapter, we will review what various governing bodies’ codes of conduct have to say on the matter – and notably that all codes of conduct focus on the avoidance of harm, not (necessarily) the effectiveness of one’s advice. Real-life case studies that have been experienced first-hand are used to illustrate the prevalence and importance of ethical issues in sport psychology. Core concepts are drawn from the code of conduct, illustrated and explored, including the avoidance of harm, competence and confidentiality; managing multiple relationships, informed consent, personal conduct and integrity; keeping accurate records; avoiding conflicts of interest, termination of the relationship and others. Where absolute ‘red lines’ exist these are noted, and equally where there are no simple answers, the key issues are mapped out to help inform the sport psychologist’s decision process. The chapter finishes by providing worksheets and sample forms, in order to assist the reader in understanding and managing their own ethical practices.

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  Successful Research Projects

  A Step-by-Step Guide

  • Bernard C. Beins(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  Researchers must care for animals according to federal, state, and local laws. Use of nonhuman animals requires oversight by a psychologist trained in care of and research with animals.
• Supervising psychologists must train those working under their auspices.
• Researchers should avoid inflicting pain or discomfort on animals; if it is necessary, it should be at the most minimal level for conduct of the study.
8.10 Reporting Research Results
• Psychologists should not fabricate data.
• If a researcher discovers an error in the data, the error should be corrected.
8.11 Plagiarism You must give credit to others for their work or their data. 8.12 Publication Credit Psychologists should be listed as coauthors only for work to which they have contributed significantly. 8.13 Duplicate Publication of Data If you have completed publishable work, it may appear in only one publication (unless it is in a book or other publication that clearly involves reprinted work). 8.14 Sharing Research Data for Verification If another researcher requests your data, you must share the data with that person. 8.15 Reviewers As a student, you are not likely to be a reviewer of a professional’s work, but if you are, you must maintain confidentiality about that work.
Source: American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 57,1060–1073. Adapted with permission.
Note: Some standards are typically not relevant to student research. This table gives an overview of how the APA standards would affect you and are abridged. A complete listing of the standards is available at www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx .
Because the vast majority of notable cases with ethical problems have involved medical or biological research with people, the federal guidelines in the United States were written with prevention of problems in those domains in mind. For example, there were instances of researchers who administered food with radioactive substances to institutionalized children without any informed consent (ACHRE, n.d.), full-body irradiation of terminal cancer patients without permission (Rothman, 1994), and incomplete attention to risks in studies simulating the pressure one would feel at 30,000 above sea level (Hilts & Stolberg, 1999). So if you look at the guidelines developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), you will see that much of it appears irrelevant to a great deal of psychological research.