Learning Objectives:
- Understand and be able to explain differences (and similarities) between research ethics and ethics for practice
- Understand and be able to explain the elements of ethical requirements for research with human participants
- Understand and be able to provide an account of legal compared to ethical considerations
- Understand and be able to write consent forms and information sheets that are appropriate and conform to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
- Understand and be able to apply knowledge of when it is or is not appropriate to use deception
What are ethics?
Definition: norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
- Protect us and our participants, by making us think through the implications of our research
- Make our research robust, because we think through the implications of our research
- Do not legally bind us
Which ethics?
- BPS code of human research ethics – British Psychological Society research with participants
- Sheffield University ethics policy – University Research Ethics Committee (UREC)
- Department of Psychology ethics policy – Department Ethics committee (DEC)
- BPS code of ethics and conduct - British Psychological Society ethics for practicing psychologists
2 and 3: Sheffield Uni research ethics
All unis have their own research ethics committees, so we need to be aware of the uni’s policies
On top of this, most departments also have their own ethics committees, we must also be aware of the psychology departments policies
1 and 4: The British Psychlogical Society
The BPS sets standards of professionalism, promotes ethical behaviour, attitudes and judgements on the part of Psychologists.
The BPS have (a) a code of human research ethics and (b) a code of ethics and conduct.
(a) BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct
The code of ethics and conduct is ethics for practicing psychologists…
The code of ethics and conduct: focuses on four primary principles of respect, competence, responsibility and integrity
Respect - Value the dignity and worth of all persons, be aware of the power dynamics of authority & influence over persons and peoples, with particular regard to people’s rights
Competence - Avoid stepping outside of your area of knowledge, skill, training and experience
Responsibility - Ensure that the trust of others is not abused, the power of influence is properly managed and that duty towards others is paramount.
Integrity - Be honest
(b) The code of human research ethics
The code of human research ethics is for research
The code of human research ethics: focuses on 4 main principles of respect, scientific value, social responsibility and minimising harm
Respect for the autonomy and dignity of persons - consent, confidentiality, anonymity, fair treatment
Scientific value - Research should be well designed to maximise scientific knowledge and avoid wasting participant contributions
Social responsibility - Be aware of social aspects of conducting research e.g. communication of research results and interpretation of research outcomes
Maximising effect, minimising harm - Consider research activities from the perspective of participants to avoid risks to physical and mental health
Why do we need ethics?
Failure to comply with ethical standards when practicing psychology may result in a ‘fitness to practice ‘ case conducted by the Health & Care Professions Council
Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)
The health and care professions council regulates professional psychologists via a set of standards
Approves training programmes for Psychologists
Takes action when professionals do not meet the standards
- Caution the registrant
- Set conditions of practice
- Suspend the registrant
- Strike the registrant from the register
Other reasons to adhere to research ethics…
To avoid being sued?
- very few legal cases have resulted from poor ethical practice in research
What may be legal may not be ethical and vice versa…
A question of consent…
The law requires you to abstain from some activities ‘for your own good’ (e.g., the misuse of drugs)
The law discourages you from other activities by taxing you (e.g., high taxes on cigarettes)
Regardless of the legal consequences (or lack of them), as psychologists we should act ethically
An ethical checklist…
- What are the benefits?
- Does the research have scientific value? - What are the risks?
- Does the research maximise effect and minimise harm?
- Will the research be conduced & reported responsibly? - How is the data being handled?
- Is the data anonymous, confidential and secure?
- Are we showing due respect for our participants?
- What are the benefits?
What is the reason (rationale) for conducting the research
- Extend previous work
- Test a theoretical question
- Resolve a conflict in previous findings
- Replicate a previous finding
Do the potential benefits of the research justify the time and efforts of participants?
- What are the risks?
Protection of the Researcher
- scrutiny of proposed methods during ethical review provides protection from mistakes
- risk assessment enables researchers to consider their research from an ethical stance
Protection of Researcher and Participant via–>Informed consent - avoidance of harm by offering:
- Information
- Anonymity / Confidentiality
- Legal basis of data handling
- Right to withdraw
Consent form checklist (from the BPS)
- Aims of research
- Method of collection & intended use
- Confidentiality & anonymity conditions
- Compliance with General Data Protection Regulation
- Right to decline and withdraw
- Contact details of researcher
Information & Consent forms avoid risk by …
- Giving participants the opportunity to provide INFORMED consent
- Allowing participants to make a decision about whether they want to take part
- Providing participants with details regarding the handling of their data
- Allowing participants to withdraw
Informed Consent: Method of Collection
Method of Collection:
- Provide participants with enough information to make an informed decision about taking part e.g. provide examples of the kinds of questions they will be answering to make sure they’re okay with answering those kinds of questions
- Use language that is easy to understand
- Give the final responsibility regarding risk to the participant
Intended Use:
Deception is often
- not telling a participant the full aims of the study or omitting details rather than deliberate deceit
Deception should not be
- making up a task that participants will not be asked to do
It is often possible to let participants know what they are going to do even if you are unable to tell them the aim, if possible avoid deception, instead use mis-direction
Informed Consent: Data Handling
Provide participants with enough information about their data to help them understand whether they can withdraw or not
Informed Consent: Debrief
Provide participants with the full aims of the study and links to websites that provide further information.
If necessary add the contact details for organisations that can provide support (e.g., NHS websites) or ask participants to contact their GP
The debrief is used to let the participant know what the real aims were
- If you think you would be upset to find out what the real aims were consider carefully whether the benefits outweigh the potential harms
- How would you feel if you were told that a false memory had been implanted in your memory when you thought you were doing tasks to assess how well you remembered childhood events?
Confidentiality & anonymity: Compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- GDPR aims to protect data
- GDPR applies to any personal data
- Personal data is data that allows someone to be identified
- This applies to data that would allow someone to be identified if linked to other data
- If data is anonymised participants cannot be linked to their data & the data is no longer considered ‘personal’
- Fines for violations of GDPR range from 4% of company annual turnover to 20 million euros
- Standards for consent must include ‘opt in’ processes
- Procedure for withdrawing consent must be clear
- Individuals must be given their data on request, be allowed to have their data deleted or transferred to another ‘data controller*’
*the uni is our data controller
If data is to be truly anonymous then…
- Participants MUST be informed that they cannot access their data, delete or transfer their data
- Participants MUST be informed that they cannot withdraw after taking part
- Participants should not be asked to let others have access to their identifiable data
- Researchers may ask participants to indicate whether they are happy for others to use their anonymised data.
How is the data being handled?
What sort of data do we have?
- Reaction times?
- Accuracy data?
- Questionnaire responses?
- Interview transcripts?
How do we make sure it is confidential / anonymous?
- Make questionnaires anonymous at source
- Use participant codes that cannot be hacked
- Think carefully about where the data is stored
- Think carefully about whether you have data that could be linked with another source of data to identify your participant
Participant codes that cannot be hacked:
- First letter of mothers first name
- Number of older siblings
- Number representing birth month
- First letter of middle or first name
What is your code?
Will you be able to reproduce it in 3 months time?
Linking participants to data:
- Assign each participant with a number e.g. the first participant is no.1, the second is no.2 etc.
- Link data with the participant number e.g. 1, 2 etc.
- Keep a list of participant names and numbers in a password protected drive that is separate to the data
Storing data:
- Keep consent forms separately from participant lists or data
- Do not write the participant number on the consent form
- Store all data in a password protected drive, the University Google drive is a secure store
Rest’s (1982) model of ethical reasoning…
Ethical implementation
(executing the action identified above)
Ethical motivation (deciding what can be done)
Ethical reasoning
(deciding on the morally ideal course of action
Ethical sensitivity
(understanding that there is ethical issue)
