{"id":102,"date":"2024-08-21T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/researchmethods\/?post_type=content&p=102"},"modified":"2024-08-22T09:22:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T09:22:50","slug":"chapter-11-ethical-issues-in-psychological-research","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/staging.routledgelearning.com\/researchmethods\/student-resources\/chapter-11-ethical-issues-in-psychological-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 11 – Ethical issues in psychological research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tHome<\/a>\n<\/span>\u203a<\/span>\n\tStudent Resources<\/a>\n<\/span>\u203a<\/span>\n\tChapter 11 \u2013 Ethical issues in psychological research\n<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Chapter 11 – Ethical issues in psychological research<\/h1>\n\n\n

This chapter deals with the responsibilities borne by professional psychologists, whether their work is applied or research oriented.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Exercises<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Exercise 11.1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ethical issues in research designs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the main ethical issues involved in the following possible research designs? Please have a good think before you reveal the answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. A researcher arranges for shoppers to be given either too much or too little change when making a purchase in a department store. A record is taken of how many return to the cash desk and those that do are asked to complete a short questionnaire and are then debriefed as to the purpose of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show answer<\/summary>\n

The \u2018participants\u2019 in this study were not able to give their informed consent before participating. They have been mildly delayed by having to return to the cash desk but are also under undue pressure to then complete the questionnaire.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

2. Participants are given a general intelligence test and are then given false feedback about their performance. They are told either that they did very well and significantly above average or that they did rather poorly and significantly below average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show answer<\/summary>\n

There is a possible issue of some psychological harm in that some participants are told they have produced poor intelligence scores. OK \u2013 the effect is short-lived, but psychologists have to consider whether the knowledge gained from the experiment will be worth the perhaps mild distress caused to the participants but also the effect this has on the credibility and trustworthiness of psychologists in general, in the public view.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

3. In-depth semi-structured interviews are conducted with seven middle managers in an organisation where there has been some discord between middle and senior management. The researcher has been contracted to highlight possible causes of resentment and reasons for frustration that have been expressed quite widely. The researcher published a full report including demographics of the participants three of whom are women, one of whom is Asian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show answer<\/summary>\n

There is a problem here with anonymity. It will be easy for the senior managers to identify the sole Asian woman. In cases like these full information has to be compromised in order to preserve privacy and to protect individuals whose lives could be seriously affected by disclosure.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

4. Participants volunteer for an experiment and are first shown slides that have a theme of sweets, nuts or beans. They are then asked to put their hands into bags which contain either jelly beans, peanuts or kidney beans. The researcher is interested in whether the slides influence the participant\u2019s identification of the items in the bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show answer<\/summary>\n

The description does not make clear whether the participants were asked before participating whether they might suffer from any allergies. Most importantly there is a risk of an anaphylactic reaction from the peanuts. This then is in contravention of the principle of not putting participants at any physical risk.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

5. A researcher conducting an experiment is quite attracted to one of the participants. At the end of the session, when the experiment is over, he asks her for a date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show answer<\/summary>\n

The researcher is in a position of special power over the participant and should not exploit this by mixing professional activity with personal life. The two might of course meet up somehow outside the professional context but making this approach in the context of the experiment puts the psychologist at risk of contravening professional ethics.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Exercise 11.2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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