Define ethical issues
Refer to the problems that researchers need to avoid or overcome during the course of study
Define ethical implications
Refers to the effects of consequences of the psychological research
What are psychologists required to do?
required to balance the right of individual ppts against the need to produce research that is useful for society
What are the 3 types of ethical issues?
- Confidentiality
- Valid methodology
- Ownership of data
What is a problem with confidentiality?
Ppts are less willing to divulge info if future confidentiality is breached and further research is compromised
What is a problem with valid methodology?
poor methodology means invalid findings, scientists may be aware of these problems but the media and the public may not. Thus poor studies might shape important social policies to the detriment of those groups represented by the data.
What is a problem with the ownership of the data?
Some problems with determining ownerships involves with the sponsorship of the research (e.g. a university or commercial organisation) and the public access of the data
Give one example of ethical implications of research studies.
Rutter and Songua-Barke
- Research into Romanian orphanages lead to changes in adoption- encourage mothers to nurse children before
Give one example of ethical implications of theories
Maslows Hierarchy
- links to economical development and personal growth
What is socially sensitive research?
Studies in which there are potential social consequences or implications, either directly or ppts in research or the class of individuals represented by the research.
What is the bell curve research an example of socially sensitive research?
- argues that intelligence is inherited
- therefore average intelligence of different ethnic group can be assessed
- argues that certain groups are poor and unfortunate because their not as smart as others
- gives modern day racists evidence to support their beliefs
Who proposed the research process?
Sieber and Stanley
What is are the steps in the research process?
1) research question
2) conduct of research/ treatment of ppts
3) the institutional context
4) interpretation/ application of findings
What is the research question?
Simply asking questions like “Are there racial differences in IQ” may be damaging to members of a particular racial group because it appears to add scientific creditability to prevailing prejudice.
What does the conduct of research / treatment of ppts mean?
The main concern is the confidentiality of the information (e.g. if a ppt confesses to crime, should confidentiality be maintained)
What does the institutional context mean?
Research may be funded/managed by a private institution who may misunderstand the data that is produced. The media may obtain reports of such research and misreport findings.
What does the interpretation/applications of the findings mean?
Research findings may be used for purposes other than originally intended. For example, the IQ tests development of psychologists was subsequently used to demonstrate the inferiority of certain groups and also used to identify the feeble-minded who could then be sterilised.
A03 A limitation of ethical implications of research and theories is that many groups in society have suffered the consequences of being excluded or misrepresented in research
- it might be argued that understanding human behaviour has been lessened due to our misinterpretations or failure to include representative sample
- e.g. people with disabilities, the elderly, the disadvantaged and members of minority cultures
- These shortcomings also mean they also miss out on potential benefits of research
- This failure to fully include these groups means that understanding of human behaviour has been restricted
A03 One limitation of current ethical guidelines is that research may still inflict harm on a group of people in society.
- Psychologists have developed strict ethical guidelines that aim to protect the immediate needs of research ppts
- but they may not deal with all the possible ways in which research may inflict harm on a group of people or section of society
- For example, present ethical guidelines don’t ask researchers to consider how their research may be used by others, recommended by Sieber and Stanley
- This suggests that considerations outlined some time ago have nor yet been permeated into professional psychology
A03 One solution to the problem of handling socially sensitive research (e.g. race, homosexuality, gender or addiction) is to avoid it all together.
- The argument in favour of doings this is that findings may have negative consequences for the ppts for the section of society they represent or the whole society
- However, this would probably leave psychologists with nothing to examine but unimportant issues.
- Sieber and Stanley argue that ignoring socially sensitive research is not a responsible approach to science
- avoiding controversial topics simply because they are controversial is also an avoidance of responsibility
- Therefore psychologists have to conduct research
A03 To ensure that socially sensitive research is used responsibly, researchers should engage with the wider society, including the public and policymakers.
- This research has important applications.
- In order to reduced to likelihood of misuse of data psychologists should be energetic in taking responsibility for what happens to their findings
- They should be aware of the possibility that the results of their research may lead to abuse and discrimination
- The BPS has a press centre which aims to provide evidence-based psychological research to the media.
- This suggests that individual researchers should be supported in promoting their research in a socially sensitive way, as opposed to the neutral position that some scientists wish to take.
