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Objectives
On reading this chapter you should:
- be aware of the major functions of ethics codes, and why they play such a crucial role in psychological research;
- be familiar with the four common overarching principles, which the major standards are based around;
- understand the interdependence of ethics and the research process;
- be able to make the necessary ethical decisions involved in the planning of your research project, in the status and welfare of your participants, and in the interpretation of your data; and
- also be aware of the noteworthy issues involved in ethics for qualitative research.
Overview
Chapter 2 deals with the crucial issue of ethical consideration for research in psy- chology, and more specifically for you, the undergraduate psychology student, about to embark on your first piece of independent research. It is important to realise that one of the major judgement errors made by undergraduate psychol- ogy students, is that they fail to realise the importance and relevance of ethical principles to their research project. The vital role played by ethics in the plan- ning, execution and reporting of quantitative and qualitative research cannot be overstated. Instead of seeing psychological science and ethics as separate, a superior understanding recognises their essential interdependence. As will become apparent, ethical issues must be addressed at all stages of the research process. The topic of ethics is therefore presented in this section (Setting Yourself up for Success) to highlight its importance. Two major purposes for codes of ethics have been cited in the literature (Pettifor, 2004). Codes of ethics promote best practice by providing aspirational principles that encourage reflection and decision-making within a moral framework,
ETHICS FOR
RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY
ETHICS FOR RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY
and also act to regulate professional behaviour, through monitoring and through disciplinary action against those who violate prescriptive and enforceable stan- dards of conduct (Sinclair 1987; Lindsay, 1996; Pettifor, 1996; Fisher, 2003; Pack-Brown and Williams, 2003). It is crucial that you are aware that the goal of ethics is to encourage ethical thinking (Pack-Brown, 2003) for your research project as opposed to mere rule-following. Rules tend to proliferate as a function of the virtual impossibility of covering every conceivable situation (Stark, 1998) that the undergraduate psychology researcher may encounter. Furthermore, lists of rules often encourage an unthinking cookbook approach to ethical conduct that can lead to misapplication of the rules (Stark, 1998). Ethics, therefore, lend moral structure to your decision-making throughout the research project: from the planning of your study, your treatment of participants, to the interpretation of your results. Section 2.1 highlights the codes of ethics laid down by a number of profes- sional bodies. The Draft Universal Declaration (2005) and the Meta-Code of the EFPA (1995) provide a shared moral framework, organising ethical standards around four overarching principles, which is shown to act as a very useful tem- plate for professional organisations to adapt their code around. Section 2.2 then considers ethical issues in planning your study, in the status and welfare of participants, and in the interpretation of research. It is also important to note, that although these guidelines exist and are actively enforced by each organ- isation, there is no national or international legislation to enforce them. It is therefore up to individual universities and colleges to enforce these ethical principles, which is usually done in the form of ethic review committees or boards, and it is up to you, the psychology student, to uphold them. Finally Section 2.3 pays special attention to some ethical issues arising from qualitative research.
2.1 Shared Moral Framework
Clearly, ethics is the study of good and bad, and of the general nature of morals in different societies (Sartorius, 1999, p. 3). Pendersen (1995) proposed universalism of ethics codes, universal values based on common humanity, respect for the diversity of beliefs, and standards based on differences in culture, religion and political systems. Similarly Gauthier (2003) proposes that psychologists have the right to useful ethical guidance for their professional and research behaviour, and that all individuals have the right to effective protection from the misuse of psychology. This coincides with the Inter- national Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) who, in 2002, mandated a working group to prepare a Draft Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists (Pettifor, 2004), which was presented in June 2005. This pragmatic scheme involved the IUPsyS, the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and also the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP).
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Table 2.1 Combination of Major Codes of Ethics
Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists (2005) Principle I Respect for the Dignity of All Human Beings Principle II Competent Caring for the Well-Being of Others Principle III Integrity Principle IV Professional and Scientific Responsibilities to Society
European Federation of Psychologists Association (EFPA) Meta-Code of Ethics (1995) Principle 2.1 Respect for a Person's Rights and Dignity Principle 2.2 Competence Principle 2.3 Responsibility Principle 2.4 Integrity
Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists 3rd ed. (2002) Principle I Respect for the Dignity of Persons Principle II Responsible Caring Principle III Integrity in Relationships Principle IV Responsibility to Society
Code of Ethics: For Psychologists Working in Aotearoa/ New Zealand (2002) Principle 1 Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples Principle 2 Responsible Caring Principle 3 Integrity in Relationships Principle 4 Social Justice and Responsibility to Society
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (APA, 2002) Principle A Beneficence and Non-maleficence Principle B Fidelity and Responsibility Principle C Integrity Principle D Justice Principle E Respect for People's Rights and Dignity
Code of Professional Ethics (PSI, 2003) Principle 1 Respect for the Rights and Dignity of the Person Principle 2 Competence Principle 3 Responsibility Principle 4 Integrity
Ethical Principles for Conducting Research with Human Participants (BPS, 1978; q.v.) Principle 1 Introduction Principle 2 General Principle 3 Consent Principle 4 Deception Principle 5 Debriefing Principle 6 Withdrawal from the investigation Principle 7 Confidentiality Principle 8 Protection of Participants Principle 9 Observational Research Principle 10 Giving Advice
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the quality of research as a factor in ethical decisions, āeverything else being equal, research that is of a higher scientific quality is more ethically defensibleā (p. 127). It is unethical to ask people to participate in your study if it has little or no likelihood, because of poor conceptualisation and design, of producing mean- ingful results or furthering scientific knowledge. Your research project must be planned so that the chance of misleading results is minimised. It is important to realise that if your project has flawed methodology, your results will be of no value and the time of the participants will have been wasted. Planned steps must always be taken to protect and ensure the dignity and wel- fare of all your participants. Inadequate attention to respect for person, benefi- cence and justice, can affect the scientific viability and validity or your research. Part of the planning stage also involves determining the degree of risk to be encountered by participants. Under the principle of competent caring, you are required to demonstrate an active concern for the well-being of your partici- pants. This can be achieved by minimising the invasiveness of your study. Rosnow and Rosenthal (1997) developed a risk-benefit model to assist the researcher. The basic dilemma is to weigh the scientific value of the study being planned against the degree of intrusion on those contributing data. This model is useful for judging whether your research proposal will be passed or rejected. A study falling at A would not be approved as the risks are high and the benefits are low, whereas a study falling at D would be approved because the risks are low but the benefits are high. Obviously this is the ideal situation for your psychology project. Studies that fall along the BāC axis can be difficult to determine whether they would be approved or not, and you should stay clear of any ideas for your research that fall along this axis. For example, although a study that falls at C has low risk, the benefits of carrying out the piece of research are also low, therefore it is unlikely to yield any ben- efit and would probably not be approved. A study that falls at B has high ben- efits but also has high risks. The undergraduate psychology student is advised to avoid these research situations, as you may not have the experience to mini- mise the risks and maximise the benefits that an experienced researcher can.
Planning the study
Scientific rigour Dignity Competent caring Risk-benefit assessment
Status and welfare of participants
Informed Consent Right to withdraw Deception Debriefing
Interpretation of research
Reporting of results Data falsification Plagiarism
Figure 2.1 Three major stages for ethical considerations
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Also note that if you plan to use children, i.e. anyone under the age of 18, as your participants it is very important to get not only their consent, but also the consent of a parent/guardian. You should also make sure that you are up to speed with guidelines and acts relating to using children in research.
Deception
During your research you should continually ask yourself about your relation- ship with the participants; are you telling the truth? Has a climate of trust developed? The principle of integrity promotes the value of truthfulness and accurate communication, therefore, the intentional deception of participants over the purpose and general nature of your project should be avoided when- ever possible. Also the experience of deception can cause many adverse effects, which violates the principle of care. However, there are a number of psychological processes that are modifiable by participants if they knew that these processes were being studied. In such cases the statement of the research hypotheses in advance of consent and col- lection of the data would confound the research, by affecting the construct validity of the variables under investigation. There is universal recognition within the codes of ethics that a distinction can be made between withhold- ing some of the details of the hypotheses under investigation and deliberately misleading participants of the purpose of the research. In this situation it is imperative that you discuss and get the go ahead from your supervisor.
An Investigation of the Self-Reference Effect The purpose of this study to determine how accurately people can remember informa- tion related to them. If you participate, you will be required to complete a computerised task involving word lists and questions. The task will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The exact hypothesis that is being investigated will be explained to you at the conclusion of your participation. If you have any questions or concerns about your participation or about the study, you may contact me at _________________________ I have read the description of the investigation of the Self-Reference Effect, and I voluntarily agree to participate. I understand that I can withdraw from the study at any time, without penalty, and that my participation and the record of my performance will be kept strictly confidential. When the entire investigation has been completed (tick the relevant box)
Would Would not
like a brief summary of the overall results. Signature of Participant Date
Figure 2.2 An example of a consent form
Confidentiality
The principle of respect for the dignity of all human beings involves uphold- ing the value of privacy of participants, and the value of confidentiality of the personal information they disclose. Ensuring confidentiality has a potential scientific benefit of improving the internal validity of your study if it leads participants to be more honest and open when responding (Blanck, 1992). If your study could potentially cause your participants some form of social embarrassment, you should keep their responses anonymous. In this cir- cumstance, it is important to ask participants to refrain from using their names or any other identifying information. It is important that you do not include a space for a signature on the consent form. However, this level of anonymity is not always possible. In such cases, you can keep participantsā responses confidential by simply removing any identifying information from their records once you have used them, and replace with a code. If you will need to test participants on more that one occasion, random numbers can be assigned to participants at the beginning of your experimentation.
Debriefing
As the principle of competent caring suggests, you are ethically obligated to seek ways to benefit participants even after your research is completed. An effective way of meeting this standard is to provide the participants of your study with a post-experimental session known as debriefing. It is imperative that you do not view your participants as a means to an end, as mere pawns or objects of which to collect data on or from. You must respect their unique worth and inherent dignity. Remember that once your data has been collected, your responsibility towards your participants does not end there. Once your project is finished, or when you have analysed and interpreted your results, you should offer your participants a debriefing session. The amount of time spent debriefing depends on the complexity of your study, but generally, a properly conducted debriefing session can take longer than your experimentation. During this session, you should answer any questions your participants have regarding any aspect of your project. It is also important that you are explicit about their role in your study, and explain your research ques- tion and the main findings. Smith and Richardson (1983) found that partici- pants who were thoroughly debriefed evaluated the research more positively. The importance of leaving your participants with a good feeling about their participation cannot be over-emphasised. As already mentioned, they have invested their time and energy into your project. The debriefing process can also be useful for your discussion section, as it helps you learn how participants viewed the procedures in your study. It can
ETHICS FOR RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY
and possibly prevent you from being awarded your psychology degree. Plagiarism can often result from the failure to double-check a source, or from the failure to use quotations when relevant. Failure to acknowledge secondary sources can also result in plagiarism. It is important that you always cite a secondary source as such, it is unethical to report information or points of view in a way that implies that you read the original work. Remember that secondary sources involve an interpretation, which may or may not be correct.
2.3 A Note on Ethics in Qualitative Research
Although the ethical issues addressed in the previous section apply to both quantitative and qualitative processes of inquiry, a special note is made regard- ing qualitative methods. New emerging qualitative methods of inquiry are pre- senting a new backdrop of ethical issues, and their use requires reconsideration of how to utilise conventional ethical principles and standards (Haverkamp, 2005). Similar to quantitative research, Morrow (2005) proposes trustworthi- ness as a core criterion for quality and rigour in qualitative research. As will be discussed later in the text, qualitative research demonstrates an emphasis on the distinctiveness and individuality of human experience rather than on investigating universal theories of human behaviour. As already noted, researchers are obligated to abide by the principle of respect for the dignity of all human beings, which involves upholding the value of participantsā privacy, and the value of confidentiality of the personal infor- mation they disclose. However, qualitative research can often involve exten- sive quotations from participants, which can make it very difficult to disguise participantsā identity, constituting a potential violation of research confiden- tiality (Haverkamp, 2005). In such cases, it is important that participants are aware of this, prior to giving their consent to participate. Another obvious difference between the two types of research is the role played by the participants. In qualitative research, both the researcher and participants are far more engaged in the emergent research process. Participants are often required to disclose information that is potentially emotional, there- fore the researcher must uphold the principle of competent caring, by demon- strating an active concern for the well-being of participants. A final caution is made regarding the interpretation of qualitative data. During the interpretation process, the qualitative researcher has a much broader scope for making sense of the data collected, based on their intuitions, creativity and personal experience. Kvale (1996) refers to this interpretative process as āpersonal subjectivityā. Remember that the integrity of data is of pivotal importance to the advancement of the knowledge base for psychology as a science.
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Summary
The Draft Universal Declaration (2005) describes ethical principles and values for the international community. When planning your research project, planned steps must be taken to ensure the dignity and welfare of all your par- ticipants, while also ensuring that your research is designed to a high level of scientific rigour. It is very important to ensure that all your participants have given their informed consent and are aware of their right to withdraw at any point. The principle of respect for dignity involves upholding the values of confidentiality and privacy. According to the principle of competent caring, you are obligated to debrief your participants. The failure to conduct research in an ethical manner undermines the entire scientific process and impedes the advancement of knowledge, therefore it is imperative that you are scrupulously accurate in managing and reporting your data. You must also avoid plagiarism of any kind, as it is considered a violation of the principle of integrity.
Further Reading
APA (American Psychological Association) (2002) Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist , 57: 1060ā73. Barnyard, P. and Flanagan, C. (2005) Ethical Issues and Guidelines in Psychology. London: Routledge. Fisher, C. (2003) Decoding the Ethics Code: A Practical Guide for Psychologists. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Havercamp, B. E. (2005) Ethical Perspectives on Qualitative Research in Applied Psychology. Journal of Counselling Psychology , 52(2): 146ā55. Pettifor, J. (2004) Professional ethics across national boundaries. European Psychologist , 9(4): 264ā72. Rosnow, R. L. and Rosenthal, R (1997) People Studying People: Artifacts and Ethics in Behavioral Research. New York: W. H. Freeman & Company.
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