IB Docs (2) Team
Ethics in research
Another important consideration in research is that participants should be treated in an ethical manner. Psychologists now agree to follow certain ethical standards in order to avoid harming participants.
Ethics refers to the correct rules of conduct necessary when carrying out research. Psychologists have a moral responsibility to protect research participants from physical and psychological harm.
Early research in psychology often did not follow clear ethical guidelines. Many of the early studies in psychology involved causing brain damage in animals, exposing people and animals to electrical shocks, or rather incredible acts of deception.
When participants feel that they have been taken advantage of, deceived, or harmed, this hurts the field of psychology, making it less likely for people to volunteer to participate.
Research in psychology
Tudor, Johnson, and Obermann (1939) carried out a study at the University of Iowa that was so unethical, it has become known as "The Monster Study."
The aim of the study was to see if stuttering was the result of biological factors (nature) or whether it was the result of learning (nurture). In order to answer this question, the researchers carried out their experiment on 22 orphan children taken from the local orphanage. The children ranged from 5 to 15 years
Half of the children already had a slight stutter. All were told that they had been recommended for speech therapy. Children were put into one of two groups - either a positive learning environment or a negative learning environment.
In the positive learning environment, Tudor worked with the children on their spoken language skills, praising them for their fluency and telling them that they were showing great progress. They were told that they would outgrow their stutter and that there was no reason to worry.
In the negative learning environment, Tudor would humiliate the children, correcting every minor error and telling them over and over again that they had a terrible stutter. This led to high levels of anxiety in the children. Children who had not stuttered before the study, either stopped speaking or developed stutters. Some of the participants would have speech difficulties for the rest of their lives.
The University of Iowa publicly apologized for the Monster Study in 2001.
When designing a study, it is necessary to determine if the procedure is ethical. All research needs to be conducted in a way that respects the dignity of the participants - whether they are animals or human participants. Psychological associations around the world have come up with sets of guidelines that psychologists must use in carrying out psychological research. These ethical guidelines also apply to research done within the IB psychology program.
The most basic ethical standard is the protection from undue stress or harm. It is important to make sure that no harm is done to participants. It is not permitted to humiliate a participant or force them to reveal private information. And it is important that there is nothing done to the participant that will have a permanent effect on their physical or psychological health.
Notice that psychologists use the term "undue" stress or harm. Health psychologists study stress - so, how would we study stress if we cannot cause stress in a participant? "Undue" stress is a higher level of stress than an individual may experience on a day-to-day basis. Asking participants to solve a frustrating puzzle before being asked to memorizing a list of words is not an example of "undue" stress or harm.
Psychologists must obtain informed consent from participants before the research begins. Participants must be told about the nature of the study and agree to participate. They must also be told what rights they have, including the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Informed consent also means that the participant must understand what the research is about and any potential issues that may arise. In biological research, this is often complicated as many people do not really understand genetic or biochemical terminology. In addition, people with mental or physical illness may not be able to really understand the implications of agreeing to take part in a study. In this case, it is often guardians that give consent for their family member. In the case of children, parents must give consent.
From the point of view of the psychologist, informed consent can be problematic. If the psychologist tells you what she is studying, this may influence your behaviour. In order to prevent this, researchers may use deception. Deception can either be misinformation or it may be not telling the participant the complete goal of the study. Deception should generally not be used; however, slight deception, which does not cause any stress to the participant, may be used in some cases. However, before deception may be used, the psychologist proposing the study must justify why it is necessary and an ethics board should approve the study.
A participant has the right to withdraw from a study at any time. If they wish to withdraw from the study, they should feel no pressure or coercion from the psychologist to remain and their data must be withdrawn from the study.
At the end of the study, all participants must be debriefed. In a debriefing, the true aims and purpose of the research must be revealed to the participants. Any deception must be justified. All participants should leave the study in the same physical and psychological state in which they arrived. They also should be guaranteed that all information that is obtained in the study will be anonymized - that is, their identities will not be revealed in the publication of the study or any other use of the data thereafter.
Checking for understanding
The following activity asks students to consider ethical considerations with regard to various research proposals. It is important that students don't try to find a flaw with each study as much as to think about what ethical decisions must the researcher make in each study. If the study is, in fact, unethical, what could the researcher do to study the topic in an ethical manner?
1. A psychologist wants to study the effect of loud noise on a person’s ability to concentrate. In order to do this, he blasts loud music through the participants’ earphones while they are trying to read a text.
The level of the noise could be a concern. The researcher needs to make sure that the noise does not cause any damage. The participants would also have to be informed of the nature of the experiment before they begin. If they find it stressful, they have the right to withdraw.
2. A criminal psychologist wants to carry out an observation of how prostitutes convince someone to have sex. He will do this by a covert observation, where he poses as a person wanting her services.
Deception is a key problem here. He is dishonestly approaching the prostitutes as if he were a customer. In addition, there is the question of researching something that is "illegal." Prostitution in many countries is illegal. So, the identities of the individuals must be protected.
3. A developmental psychologist wants to test the problem-solving abilities of elderly people residing in a retirement home. He goes from room to room in the center and asks them if they would be willing to do a Suduko puzzle.
It appears that consent is being obtained, but the consent is not really "informed." It is also questionable as to how healthy the individuals are in this study. It would be a better study if the participant worked together with the administration of the home in order to gain participants' informed consent - that is, so that they understood what the aim of the study was and what he planned to do with the data.
4. In order to test the effectiveness of drugs in the treatment of obesity, psychologists manipulate the DNA of rats in order to produce obese offspring.
Animal research in and of itself is not an ethical consideration - it is a sampling consideration. However, in this case, the researchers are looking to permanently alter the physiology of the animals. This could lead to irreparable harm. This is a serious ethical consideration. More information about ethical considerations in animal research will be discussed in the HL extension in the biological chapter of this text.
5. A researcher wants to carry out a series of interviews with a group of Afghan War veterans to assess the extent to which personal experience in the war has affected their perception of the future.
There is nothing unethical about this study. The researchers would have to gain informed consent, guarantee the confidentiality of the data and allow the participant the right to withdraw their data. However, it would be important that the interviewers are carefully trained as to not cause any undue stress for the veterans.
6. A psychologist hopes to explore the motivation of students for academic dishonesty – for example, plagiarism or cheating on an exam. In order to do this, he hopes to obtain student records from the head of the school.
This is a rather problematic study. Obtaining student records could be considered unethical. Schools in different countries have different laws about the release of school records. It is probable that consent would have to be obtained from the families involved. If not, then the data should be anonymized so that the identities of the individuals are kept confidential.
7. A psychologist wants to study male sexuality with a sample of university students. He is planning on using a focus group (group interview) in which they will discuss their earliest sexual thoughts, and whether they have ever had homosexual fantasies. In order to guarantee the accuracy of the data, the focus group will be recorded.
This study is highly problematic. First, informed consent would have to be obtained where the individuals were fully aware of the topic of the focus group. Secondly, there would be the problem of confidentiality. There is no real guarantee that information from the interview won't be shared outside of the room by members of the focus group. This is an ethical concern, but it may also mean that no one wants to share openly with the group. Finally, the recording of the data is concerning. The data would have to be anonymized in order to make sure that the privacy of the individuals is protected.
8. A school psychologist wants to try out a new approach to reading for 5-year-olds. The plan is to have one class have this new special program and the other class would continue with the former program. The goal is to see if the group with the new program develops higher reading skills than those without it.
Studies of this nature are always problematic. First, there is the question of consent. Can the school give consent, or should the parents of the children? Usually, it is the parents of the students that most give consent for such types of experiments. Secondly, if the new program actually helps the students, then the results seem to justify the experiment. However, if they actually lead to a decrease in ability, this could have a long-term and potentially irreversible effect on the children's ability to read.
9. A child psychologist wants to test the effect of television violence on children’s behaviour. She will show a group of 6-year-old children a movie in which a murderer hunts down and kills small children. She will then have the children work in pairs on a frustrating puzzle to see if they exhibit any aggression toward each other.
There are several considerations here. First, parental consent would have to be obtained. Secondly, there is the question of undue stress or harm caused by watching the films. The nature of the films may lead to long-term nightmares or social-avoidant behaviour. Finally, the goal is to induce aggression. There is a question of whether these behaviours would be reversible.
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