Ethical Issues & Ways of Dealing with Them (AQA AS Psychology)

Ethical considerations are put in place to ensure that both the participants and the researcher are protected during psychological research

The British Psychological Society (BPS) publishes a code of conduct that all psychologists must adhere to in order to have their research approved by a funding body and to maintain their professional reputation

The code of conduct focuses on four key ethical principles:

• Respect

• Competence

• Responsibility

• Integrity

Universities and research institutions have their own ethics committees which review proposed research to check that it abides by the BPS ethical guidelines

Researchers should go through a cost-benefit analysis before conducting their research e.g.

• if a specific procedure/task is used how will it impact the participants?

• to what extent can participants be deceived or put under some stress in the task whilst still maintaining an ethical stance?

• to what extent can the aim of the study be preserved if ethics are applied too rigorously i.e. is there a point where the study aim is kept intact and participants are fully protected too?

Participants should have detailed information about what they will be required to do to be able to make an informed decision about taking part in the research 

• They should be told the nature of the task e.g. memorising items on a list

• The timings and length of the task should be shared

• They should be warned of any potential hazards e.g. if MRI is involved participants with metal inserts or claustrophobia should not take part

If participants are below the age of 16 years, parental consent needs to be gained

Those who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not able to give informed consent 

Example of not giving consent:

• In Milgram's (1963) obedience study it could be argued that participants did not give fully informed consent as they were under the impression that they were to take part in a study on the effect of punishment on learning

Part of informed consent (and what should be included on the consent form) is the participant's right to withdraw

Participants should be aware they have the right to withdraw from the study/research at any time, even after when the procedure is over

The data from any participant who withdraws is destroyed, along with any personal details the researcher has taken from them

Example of not having the right to withdraw:

• It could be argued that participants in Zimbardo's (1973) prison study did not feel that they had the right to withdraw due to the conditions set up in the experiment

• Zimbardo was in the role as the prison governor and he used this position to persuade the participants to stay in the study

Deception occurs in a study when the participants are informed of a false aim/task or when the researcher introduces fake elements to the procedure

• Milgram (falsely) informed his participants that they were taking part in a study on punishment and learning rather than on their own destructive obedience

Sometimes, to preserve the integrity/validity of the aim, it might be necessary to introduce some (mild) deception of participants

When deception is unavoidable in research, informed consent cannot be gained but consent still needs to be in place

• Prior general consent

  • Participants agree to be deceived but do not know how they will be deceived

  • This can affect participants' behaviour as they are expecting to be deceived

• Presumptive  consent

  • Consent is gained from people who have a similar background to the participants

  • If they say they would consent to take part, then it is deemed that the actual participants would also consent

• Retrospective consent

  • This requires asking the participants for informed consent after the research has taken place 

Participants must be protected from harm before, during and after the research process has taken place

Harm constitutes any physical, psychological or emotional damage inflicted on participants as a result of their participation in the research process

One way of protecting participants from harm is to ensure that they have given fully informed consent and that they are aware of their right to withdraw

Milgram did not protect his participants from harm

• Many of the men in his study suffered huge stress, anxiety and strain, with more than one of them even suffering a seizure during the task

Zimbardo's research is equally culpable of harming participants

• The prisoners in his study experienced huge psychological distress, verging on trauma

• The guards succumbed to tyrannical behaviour which - after the study was over - they struggled with, knowing that they were capable of brutality and cruelty

Researchers must be constantly vigilant as to the safety of participants

• Have they considered all of the possible ways in which participants might suffer negative outcomes based on their participation in the study?

• Have they put checks in place throughout the procedure so that participants are protected?

• Do they have sufficient strategies in place to aid participants who appear to be responding negatively to the procedure?

Privacy refers to any invasion of an individual’s private space/environment which could be said to go beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable in terms of the topic being investigated

• Dickerson et al. (1992) had female confederates hide in a swimming pool shower block and time the length of showers taken by participants (who were unaware that this was happening) which violates the privacy ethic

The BPS guidelines instruct researchers to respect the privacy of participants so that individuals are not personally identifiable unless an individual so wishes, and then only with clear, unambiguous informed consent

Confidentiality refers to the guideline which states that participants’ data should not be disclosed or available to anyone outside of the research process

• In the case study of HM details of his identity and the research findings were made public after his death with the consent of his family (known as consent by proxy)

Confidential data cannot be traced back to any participant

When the research is published it should not give any indications as to who the participants were and details as to the location of the research should be kept as minimal as possible