Finish up APA style Ethics

Finish up APA styleEthics Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Exam 1: on Monday • Univ college writing help: • http://www.ucollege.ilstu.edu/tutoring/writing/ Announcements

Abstract • Body • Introduction • Methods • Participants • Materials/Apparatus • Design • Procedure • Results • Discussion • References • The rest • Authors Notes, Footnotes, Tables, Figures & Captions APA style: Parts of a research report

Method - tells the reader exactly what was done • Enough detail that the reader could actually replicate the study. • Subsections: • Participants - who were the data collected from • How many, where they were selected from, any special selection requirements, details about those who didn’t complete the experiment • Apparatus/ Materials - what was used to conduct the study • Design • Suggested if you have a complex experimental design, often combined with Materials section • Procedure • What did each participant do? Other details, including the operational levels of your IV(s) and DV(s), counterbalancing, etc. • The basic parts of a research article : Body

Method - tells the reader exactly what was done • Reading checklist 1 a) Is your method better than theirs? b) Does the authors method actually test the hypotheses? c) What are the independent, dependent, and control variables? 2) Based on what the authors did, what results do YOU expect? • Writing checklist • Is it clear why the procedures were selected? • Are any assumptions explicit and defended? • Is the level of detail sufficient for replication? • The basic parts of a research article : Body

Results • Verbal statement of results: Describe the results but don’t interpret them here (that’s for the discussion) • Statistical Outcomes • Means, standard deviations, t-tests, ANOVAs, correlations, etc. • Relate the analyses to the specific hypotheses • Tables and figures • These get referred to in the text, but actually get put into their own sections at the end of the manuscript Body

Results • Reading checklist • Did the author get unexpected results? • How does the author interpret the results? • How would YOU interpret the results? • What implications would YOU draw from these results? • Writing checklist • Is it clear how the hypotheses are tested by the analyses? • Would a graph or table help clarify the results? • What questions might the reader still have, and how could I answer them in this section? Body

Discussion (interpreting the results) • Relationship between purpose and results • Theoretical (or methodological) contribution • Implications • Future directions (optional) • Reading checklist • Does YOUR interpretation or the authors' interpretation best represent the data? • Do you or the author draw the most sensible implications and conclusions? • Writing checklist • Have you stated your most convincing argument? • Do the conclusions follow straightforwardly from the results? Body

References • Author’s name • Year • Title of work • Publication information • Journal • Issue • Pages Adolescent Depression 29 References Barnett, P. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (1988). Psychosocial functioning and depression: Distinguishing among antecedents, concomitants, and consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 104. Beck, A. T. (1978). Beck Depression Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation. Benoit, D., Vidovic, D., & Roman, J. (1991, April). Transmission of attachment across three generations. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., & Barton, M. L. (1989). Maternal attachment disturbances in failure to thrive. Infant Mental Health Journal, 3, 185-202. Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., Boucher, C., & Minde, K. (1989). Sleep disorders in early childhood: Association with insecure maternal attachment. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 86-93. When something odd comes up, don’t guess. Look it up! The references

Authors Notes • Footnotes • Tables • Figures and captions • These are used to supplement the text. • To make a point clearer for the reader. • Typically used for: • The design • Examples of stimuli • Patterns of results The rest

Ethics – people should be treated as ends not means Ethics

Two basic categories of ethical concerns: • Need to consider the rights of our participants in our research • Need to behave ethically as scientists and practitioners Ethical Responsibilities in Research

For the most part the researcher has the power • You know what is going to be done to the participants • Participants may feel like they have to do it • Consider the Milgram (1963) study • demonstrated how far people may go to obey authorities • This study itself exemplifies the need for strict rules of ethics Using humans in research

Consider ethics at each step • Does the topic/idea for the research have some ethical issues surrounding it? • How are participants selected? • What methods may be used on the participant population? • What measurement techniques will be used? • What design is appropriate? • How are the data analyzed? • How are the results reported? Ethical Responsibilities in Research

Respect for persons – “All individual human beings are presumed to be free and responsible persons and should be treated as such in proportion to their ability in the circumstances.” • Basic courtesy • Informed consent • Debriefing • Avoid deception • Beneficence - ”Do good and avoid harm" • Protection from harm • Cost/Benefits analysis • Confidentiality • Justice – “Everyone is entitled to equal access to basic care necessary for living in a human way. “ • Freedom from coercion • Equal chances of participation Belmont Report & APA’s code of ethics http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

Information to allow a person to decide if they want to participate • Basic purpose of the study • Participation is voluntary • Risks involved • Benefits involved • Rights to refuse or terminate participation • Assent - guardians if participants are not competent • e.g., children, developmentally disabled people Informed consent

Types • Passive deception • Withholding information about the study • Active deception • Deliberately misleading participants • Avoid it when possible • Alternative to deception • Role-playing • When not possible to avoid • Make sure that you are up front with all possible risks • Potential results must be worth it • Must debrief participants as soon as possible (either right after participation or as soon as project is over) Using deception in research

Costs: all potential risks to the participants • Physical harm • Psychological harm • Loss of confidentiality • Benefits: the “good” outcomes • Direct benefits to participants • Benefits to knowledge base • Benefits to world at large Costs/Benefits analysis

Institutional Review Board • IRB Criteria • Minimize risk • Benefits > Risks • Equal opportunity sampling • Informed consent • Documentation of consent • Data monitoring • Privacy & Confidentiality Monitoring of ethics

Fraud prevention • Replication – repeat a research study to validate results • Peer Review – critical analysis of research by peers in the same area • Plagiarism – taking credit for another’s work or ideas • Avoided by citing the ideas or words of others Scientific Integrity

CITI ethics training • https://www.citiprogram.org/ • Can take short “courses” on ethics • Starting Jan. 2011 most 290, 390s (and probably some PSY 331 classes) will require it (lasts for 3 years) • Social/Behavioral Research Course, Basic Course • Students conducting no more than minimal risk research • Starting this semester, this is now a 231 assignment • See the syllabus page for a link to the instructions for how to sign on and take this training On-line Ethics Training

Exam 1: 15% of final grade • Short answer & multiple choice • Covers – lectures, textbook, lab material • Textbook Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 Exam 1

Finish up APA style Ethics