Discuss one or more ethical considerations related to research studies investigating individuals and groups.

Refer to the paper 1 section B assessment criteria when awarding marks. These can be found under the “Your tests” tab > supplemental materials.

The command term "discuss" requires candidates to offer a considered review of one or more ethical considerations related to research studies investigating individuals and groups.

Ethical considerations may be positive (what guidelines were followed) or negative (what guidelines were not followed).

Ethical considerations may include, but are not limited to:

• deception
• protection from undue stress or harm
• briefing and debriefing
• right to withdraw
• informed consent
• anonymity

Studies investigating individuals and groups may include, but are not limited to:

• Festinger’s (1956) study on cult behaviour
• Sherif’s (1954) “Robbers Cave” study investigating the realistic conflict theory
• Zimbardo’s (1961) Stanford Prison Experiment
• Milgram’s (1961) study of obedience
• Bandura’s (1961) study of aggression

Discussion may include, but is not limited to:

• why deception is used
• the difficulties of ensuring confidentiality in social psychology research
• the role of informed consent when studying groups
• decisions as to why certain ethical guidelines were/were not followed
• changes over time in adherence to ethical standards/guidelines.

Very few candidates chose to answer this question. Top responses showed knowledge and understanding centering on one or two ethical considerations and used relevant research linked to the question. However, the discussion was often formulaic, jumping to conclusions about unmet ethical standards.

Low band responses seemed unfocused, providing a long list of ethical considerations, mentioning the importance of following ethical standards on research and describing studies without a link to ethical considerations. In other cases, candidates only provided extensive methodological descriptions of sociocultural research without addressing ethical issues, scoring zero in knowledge and understanding.