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Research Ethics

Research Ethics. Ethics. From the Greek word, “Ethos” meaning character Implies a judgment of character Moral principles Ethical research is guided by larger concerns about fairness, honesty, and public good. Why do we need to worry about ethics?. Participants are very cooperative

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Research Ethics

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  1. Research Ethics

  2. Ethics • From the Greek word, “Ethos” meaning character • Implies a judgment of character • Moral principles • Ethical research is guided by larger concerns about fairness, honesty, and public good

  3. Why do we need to worry about ethics? • Participants are very cooperative • Orne (1962) • Participants may cooperate to their own detriment

  4. Example: Milgram obedience studies • What were the ethical problems with Milgram’s research? • What are the benefits to society as a result of what we know from that research?

  5. Research Ethics • Need for a balance between • the right of the experimenter to study the behavior and • the right of the participants to be protected from abuse

  6. Nuremberg Code (1947) • In response to the crimes against humanity in the name of ‘science’ during WWII • Included • informed consent • right to withdraw • justification in scientific principles • beneficience

  7. Tuskegee syphilis study • U.S. Public Health Service • Begun in 1932, spanned over 40 years • Effects of untreated syphilis in 400 African American men • Denied men available treatment • Only 74 left alive at the end of the study • Clinton apologized in 1997

  8. IRB(Institutional Review Board) • 1974: National Research Act • All institutions sponsoring research must investigate potential risks & benefits • Protects: • Participants • Institution • At NSCC, the Human Subjects Review Committee

  9. The Belmont Report • Created in 1979 by US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare (now Health and Human Services) • Guidelines for behavioral and medical researchers regarding the protection of human subjects • Beneficence • Respect for persons (Autonomy) • Justice

  10. APA Code of Ethics • APA adopted Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct in 1992 • deals with both human and nonhuman participants • Code was revised in June of 2003

  11. Beneficence • Need for research to maximize benefits and minimize harm to participants. • Risks include • Physical harm • Stress/Psychological harm • Loss of privacy and confidentiality

  12. Assessing Risks • Exempt, minimal risk, and greater than minimal risk • Are any potential risks necessary? • Issues with observation studies and privacy • how do we decide if public observation is unethical?

  13. Autonomy • Informed Consent • Withholding information and Deception • Debriefing

  14. Informed consent • Participant is provided with enough information to make a decision about participation. Includes: • Benefits • Risks • Procedures • Participation is voluntary, and participants have the ability to stop at any time • Informed consent forms need to be clearly written and understandable

  15. Withholding and Deception • not considered unethical to withhold information that would not affect decision to participate • active lying/misrepresenting purpose of the study more difficult to justify • IRB requires strong reasoning behind necessity to deceive participants • any deception must be clearly explained in debriefing

  16. Debriefing • Explain the purpose, procedure, and get feedback from participants • May include desensitizing: • Helping people cope with acquired negative information • May include dehoaxing: • Explaining that they were deceived

  17. Justice • Principle of fairness in receiving the benefits of research as well as paying the costs. • Selection of subjects must be equitable or soundly justified by research purpose.

  18. Research with Animal Subjects • Animal studies comprise a small but measurable fraction of psychological research • risk/benefit analysis • APA code of ethics requires animals treated as humanely as possible

  19. And this should go without saying… • FRAUD or Misrepresentation of research methods or results is unethical • Plagiarism is unethical • using another’s words or IDEAS without proper citation

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