©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall CHAPTER 3 Ethics in Conducting Research and Reporting Outcomes

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Code of Ethics? The APA (American Psychological Association) has established codes of conduct for its psychologists. There are 2 sections to this code: The General Principles – Aspirations that psychologists should strive toward. The Ethical Standards – Ethical standards and guidelines for conduct that can be enforced.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall General Principles for Psychologists Beneficence and Nonmaleficence Fidelity and Responsibility Integrity Justice Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Risks and Benefits of Research All scientific research is capable of producing many benefits and causing harm. When do the risks outweigh the benefits? – How much, if any, physical trauma or psychology harm is acceptable? – The answer is complicated – but when any risk is involved it is categorized as either: Minimal Risk: The risk of harm is no greater than what would be encountered in daily life. Risk: Anything greater than minimal risk.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Research With Humans The APA (2002) has developed a set of ethical research standards that apply to various stages of the research process. Codes dealing with planning and conducting research include: Let’s look at some of these in more detail. – Boundaries of Competence – Institutional Approval – Delegation of Work to Others – Deception in Research – Avoiding Harm – Privacy, Anonymity, & Confidentiality – Informed consent

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Deception Deception refers to the deliberate act of misleading or withholding information to give a false impression for the purpose of concealing knowledge or creating a research variable. The APA discourages or limits the use of deception. In order for deception to be use the following must be present: – It must be shown that non-deceptive procedures are not feasible. – Deception must not employed in studies expected to cause physical pain or serve emotional distress. – Participants must be informed of the deception as early as possible – usually the completion of their participation. Debriefing; Dehoaxing; Desensitizing Why do psychologists use deception? – They want unbiased, “natural” behavior.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Privacy, Anonymity, Confidentiality Privacy: – Freedom from unauthorized intrusions on or assessments of their feelings, thoughts, or behaviors in everyday situations. Anonymity – The identity of the participants is unknown. Confidentiality – Any information obtained about individual research participants is not to be disclosed without express consent or required by law.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Informed Consent Informed consent means that all potential participants are told in advance about all aspects (good and bad) of the study. This information is intended to be used by the potential participant to make an informed judgment with respect to their participation. Participants are also informed that they may decline or discontinue at any time.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Content of Informed Consent What is to be included in informed consent? – Topic of the research. – Affiliation of research and contact information – Task: What they will experience. – Benefits and Risks – Place and Time of the research – Anonymity and Confidentiality guarantee. – Freedom to decline or quit at any time – Offer to answer all questions – Ask for consent – Offer to provide feedback

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Institutional Review Boards (IRB) Most colleges/universities and research organizations have IRBs. These boards review research proposals and impartial check for ethical problems so potential participants will be protected. – IRBs often perform risk-benefit analyses.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Ethics in Animal Research Why use animal participants? – Better control of environmental conditions and genetics. – Study throughout life. – They always show up. – Manipulate variables deemed too harmful for human research.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Care and Treatment of Research Animals Animals must be provided with proper health care, feeding, housing, and cleanliness. Animals should not be subjected to cruel and unnecessary painful conditions. Governments will inspect animal research facilities randomly to ensure standards. The research institution must establish an “Animal Care and Use Committee” that is to review all proposed animal research.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall APA Standards for Animal Research Psychologist abide by federal and local laws for the acquisition, care, use, and disposal of research animals. Psychologists trained in research methods and care of laboratory animals supervise all procedures involving animals. Psychologists ensure that all individuals using animals under their supervision receive training in research methods and in the care, maintenance, and handling of the species being used. Reasonable efforts are used to minimize discomfort, infection, illness, and pain of the animals. Painful procedures are only to be used when an alternative procedure is not available. Surgeries are performed only under appropriate anesthesia and techniques are used to minimize pain and infection. When an animal’s life is to be taken – the process should be rapid and painless and in accordance with accepted guidelines.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Ethics in Report Research Outcomes Science seeks the truth. – Thus scientists who misrepresented their data are not true scientists. Why might scientists misrepresent their data? – Pressure to publish (many more significant findings are published than non-significant)

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall How Do Scientists Cheat? Falsifying Data – Deliberately fabricating or alternating research findings to meet some goal. – However, accidental errors in data do happen. When an error is found it should be corrected immediately so the error is not perpetuated and the enterprise of science is not delayed. Science is self-correcting. – All errors will eventually be discovered. So deliberately altering research results is truly futile.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Plagiarism Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s ideas (written or spoken) or work as ideas or works of your own. – Please note that plagiarism does not have to be a deliberate act. – Why is plagiarism becoming a growing problem?

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Plagiarism and Paraphrasing The basic principle behind plagiarism is simple: If you discuss another’s work or idea you give them credit. – So if use another’s exact words you put those words in quotes and include a reference that identifies the original author. – If you are paraphrasing – putting material into your own words – you do not need quotes but you must include a reference that identifies the original author.

©2005, Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Publication Credit The publication process ensures the quality of research. Authorship of research is guided by the following APA standards: – Psychologists only take responsibility and credit for work they actually performed or substantially contributed. – Principle authorship (First author) reflects the relative scientific or professional contribution of the individual involved, regardless of their status. – A student is listed as principal author on any multi-authored article that is substantially based on the student’s doctoral dissertation.