Transcript Ethics in Psychological Research

Ethics in Psychological
Research
Ghostbusters
Most basic ethical concern?
Avoid causing Harm
Psychological or Physiological
“The concern for value applies to
all scientific endeavors, but the
focus on living beings (animals as
well as people) in psychology
makes concerns about ethics more
immediate than in the natural
sciences.” (Glassman and Hadad,
2004)
Governing Entities
Every major country has published its own code
of ethics for research.
American Psychological Association
 British Psychological Society
 Canadian Psychological Association

This is a good attempt at uniformity. Social standards
are constantly shifting making it difficult to produce
universal agreement.
Stanley Milgram and Obedience

What is the controversy of this study?
Was Milgram insensitive to his subjects suffering?
 Did Milgram’s own attitude produce the results he
wanted to see?

Deception

Deception occurs when participants are not fully
informed about their participation in research.

Is it realistic to inform participants all the time?

Examples
Can’t coerce a subject to participate
 Subject’s will be given a full debriefing after their
participation
 Researcher can justify using deception

Deception

Some will argue that deception should only be
used when absolutely necessary. Do not do it
just to do it. Think about what the researcher
wants to test and see if there are alternatives to
deception.
Is it okay to deceive if society benefits from the
research?
“Having served on ethical review
boards, I know that good
researchers recognize that they
bear a moral responsibility for
their work…”
(Glassman and Hadad, 2004)