Lecture 2 Ethics in Psychological Research - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

About This Presentation
Title:

Lecture 2 Ethics in Psychological Research

Description:

Cost to profession. Deception teaches people to distrust psychologists ... Public relations value for the profession we could use it. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:246
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 34
Provided by: patric53
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Lecture 2 Ethics in Psychological Research


1
Lecture 2 Ethics in Psychological Research
2
Outline
  • Psychologists have a special responsibility to
    behave ethically towards others
  • There are no special individuals who know best
    how to behave ethically
  • Ethical research follows from openness and some
    simple guidelines

3
Psychologists special responsibility
  • We study people not things.
  • Mental states are properly private, except where
    licence is given for intervention.
  • Harm may be done by such intervention, so special
    care is warranted.

4
There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically
  • There are no special people who know better
    than the rest of us how to behave ethically
  • No religious figures, no philosophers, no
    politicians or professors

5
There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically
  • How would you become such a person?
  • If someone tells you that they have special
    knowledge of how to behave ethically, why should
    you believe them?

6
There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically
  • But thats alright, because you dont have to be
    special to be ethical.
  • Ordinary people like us are ethical
  • As ordinary people, scientists depend upon each
    other, upon the science community, for guidance
  • Being scientists, weve turned this into a
    process

7
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

8
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Note these guidelines are useful but not
    foolproof
  • Final responsibility for any research project
    always rests with the investigator

9
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

10
Oversight
  • The most important concept in our study of ethics
    is oversight
  • Oversight means telling someone what you plan to
    do and getting their opinion before you do it

11
Oversight
  • Question should oversight be objective, or
    informed?
  • Can it be both?
  • Who is likely to be informed?
  • How likely are they to be objective?

12
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

13
Risk vs. benefit
  • Who takes the risks of a research study?
  • What is acceptable risk?
  • Acceptable to whom?

14
Risk vs. benefit
  • Who gets the benefits?
  • How do we assess the benefits?
  • Significance
  • Immediacy
  • Probability

15
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

16
Informed consent
  • Various totalitarian states conducted brutal
    research on prisoners in the 20th century.
  • We dont do that.
  • Human participants are volunteers.
  • All of them.
  • Always.

17
Informed consent
  • Information
  • Explain rights and recourse
  • Be clear about risks
  • Be sure you are understood
  • Consent
  • Must be genuine
  • Do not lie about things that would affect
    willingness to participate
  • Do not offer significant inducements

18
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

19
Privacy
  • 3 major dimensions
  • Sensitivity of the information
  • Degree of dissemination?
  • Is the setting for observation public or private?

20
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

21
Deception
  • Milgram
  • Technical illusion
  • Deception is not always bad e.g., surprise
    party special effects in movies
  • Suspension of a general moral principle for a
    public purpose

22
Milgrams argument my view
  • He makes a sensible case that deception is not
    always wrong
  • Milgram also offers a reasoned statement of the
    potential benefits of research involving
    deception
  • But decide for yourself
  • Milgram, S. (1988). Can deception in
    psychological research be justified? Yes. In
    Rubenstein Slife (Eds.) Taking Sides. Guilford,
    CT., Dushkin

23
Deception
  • Baumrind
  • Interference with informed consent
  • Cost to profession
  • Deception teaches people to distrust
    psychologists

24
Baumrind 3 arguments against deception
  • (a) the right of self-determination within the
    law, which translates in the research setting to
    the right of informed consent (b) the obligation
    of a fiduciary (in this case, the researcher) to
    protect the welfare of the beneficiary (in this
    case, the subject) and (c) the obligation,
    particularly of a fiduciary, to be trustworthy in
    order to provide sufficient social stability to
    facilitate self-determined agentic behavior.
    (1985, p. 167)

25
Baumrinds argument my view
  • Overstates potential harm to the subject
  • Overstates potential harm to the profession
  • Understates potential benefits from research
  • But decide for yourself
  • Baumrind, D. (1985). Research using intentional
    deception. American Psychologist, 40 (2), 165-174.

26
Deception general view
  • Is deception justified by prospective value of
    result?
  • Is there any other way to get the data?
  • Never deceive about anything that would affect
    willingness to participate in the study
  • Clear up deception at earliest possible moment

27
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

28
Debriefing
  • Discuss the study with the participant after
    their participation
  • Their insights may be useful
  • Public relations value for the profession we
    could use it.

29
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

30
Using animals
  • Be humane
  • Be competent
  • Know the literature
  • Know procedures
  • Minimize pain, stress
  • Use anesthesia
  • Kill humanely

31
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines
  • Oversight
  • Risk vs. benefit
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy
  • Deception
  • Debriefing
  • Using animals
  • Reporting

32
Reporting
  • Dont plagiarize
  • Dont falsify data
  • Give credit where its due
  • Share data when asked
  • Maximize societys return on its investment in
    your work
  • Publicize, share, be competent

33
Review
  • There are no special people who know best how to
    be ethical
  • We depend upon each other
  • Oversight is very important
  • Human subjects are always volunteers
  • They give informed consent
  • They share risks and benefits
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com