research methods in psychology: ethics

Research Methods in Psychology

Ethics in Research

Friday, 27 January 2012

What are ethics?

Ethics in research ensure the safety of participants.

Participants may be human or animals, both of which have guidelines that need to be met.

Before a research is conducted, it needs to be seen by the ethics committee before it gets the go ahead.


In a snap shot, research must .....

For animals ensure they are protected, pain must be minimised and they must be well cared for.

For human participants the overriding principle is that there must be no physical or psychological harm to participants.


Ethics in Human Research

Experimenter Role: The researcher must always act in a professional manner, making sure that the best interests of the participants, and of society in general, are met.

Participant Rights: Researchers must always maintain respect for the participants. Participants’ rights include; Confidentiality, Voluntary Participation, Withdrawal Rights, Informed Consent, Deception in Research, and Debriefing.


Confidentiality

This means that participants must not be identified in any way in terms of test results, their involvement in the study or any other confidential data.

Data needs to be stored and disposed of using secure procedures.

The means by which confidentiality is to be established and maintained should be described to the participants at the beginning of the study.


Voluntary Participation

Participants have the right to refuse to take part in a study.

There must not be any pressure to take part in a study, nor should they be tricked into taking part by deception


Withdrawal Rights

Participants have the right to leave a study at any stage, regardless of the possible effects on the results.

They also have the right to withdraw their results after the study has been completed.

This must be explained to the participants before beginning the study.


Informed Consent

Participants must be given information about a study before they agree to take part.

For participants who are either too young or too intellectually disabled to give their consent, their guardian must be given the information before giving consent on their behalf.


Deception in Research

This is only permitted if the results would be confounded if the participants had much information before taking part in the study.

The researcher must ensure that participants do not unexpectedly suffer distress; the study must be stopped immediately if this occurs.

Participants must be debriefed when the study is complete.


DebriefingDebriefing occurs after completion of the study and participants are told the results and conclusions of the study.

Any erroneous beliefs about the study are corrected, especially if there was any deception involved.

Participants are informed of the availability of, and how to obtain, counselling if they feel they need it.


National Health and Medical Research Council

Along with the Ethics Committee, there is a Federal Governing Body, The National Health and Medical Research Council, that overseas all research conducted on humans.

They operate around four principles; 1) Research merit and integrity 2) Justice 3) Beneficence 4) Respect for human beings


Research merit and integrity

Research that has merit is: >! justifiable by its potential benefit, including its contribution to knowledge and understanding, social welfare and individual well-being >! designed or developed using methods appropriate for achieving the aims of the proposal >! based on a thorough study of the current literature, as well as previous studies >! designed to ensure that respect for the participants is not compromised by the aims of the research, its procedures or results.


Justice

In research that is just: >! the selection of research participants is fair >! the process of recruiting participants is fair >! there is fair distribution of the benefits of participation in research >! there is no exploitation of participants in the conduct of research >! there is fair access to the benefits of research.


BeneficenceThe likely benefit of the research must justify any risks of harm or discomfort to participants. The likely benefit may be to the participants, to the wider community, or to both.

Researchers are responsible for:

1) designing the research to minimise the risks of harm or discomfort to participants

2)!clarifying for participants the potential benefits and risks of the research

3)!the welfare of the participants in the research context.


Respect for Human Beings

>! voluntary participation

>!withdrawal rights

>!protection of vulnerable participants

>!consideration of welfare of participants—physical/social/emotional/cultural.


and one more.....................

TextAs can be seen, many

of the different committees, councils and principles centre

around the same ideals. And all aim to

protect the participant in all

areas.


research methods in psychology: ethics

Spiritual