Ethical issues in psychological research

Ethics is that which is regarded as acceptable in human behaviour in pursuit of certain goals. Ethics are determined at a personal and professional level, the latter being described in a ‘Code of Conduct’ produced by professional organisations. These guidelines have largely been developed in response to the kinds of concerns highlighted in studies of conformity and obedience.

Activity

Ethical issues in conformity and obedience studies

One issue that needs to be raised in relation to Asch’s work is ethics. The people who took part in the studies were clearly both deceived and subjected to stress. Is it clear what steps Asch took to minimise these problems?

Undoubtedly, the major criticism of the Milgram study has always been the ethical issues surrounding the methodology. Many of the participants were put into a very distressed state and this certainly contravenes most ethical codes. However, it must be remembered that 84% of participants said they were glad to have taken part.

Activity

If you had to conduct a study involving Milgram’s procedure what would you tell participants before they decided to take part? Is it possible to divulge all the details of the procedure in order that the participant can make an informed decision to take part?

The study by Zimbardo has also been used to highlight ethical issues in psychological investigations. Despite all being ‘volunteers’ in the sense that the prisoners all agreed to take part in the study beforehand, several of them were very seriously affected by their experiences. The signs of stress were so great that the experiment had to be terminated after just six days.

Activity

Zimbardo’s study has been recreated as ‘reality TV’ (rather like ‘Survivors’). The ‘cast’ of prisoners and guards, have been recruited from volunteers just as in the original experiment. Discuss the ethics of making and showing such a TV show. Can an exercise such as this contribute to our understanding of social influence processes?

The use of ethical guidelines

All the major national psychological organisations, such as the BPS and APA, now publish ethical guidelines for research with human participants. There are also guidelines for research with animals (these are discussed in Unit 5 of A2).

However it is important to remember that codes of conduct are not sufficient in themselves to guarantee that research is ethical. The BPS guidelines (1978) started with this preamble:

“The understanding of human behaviour ameliorates the human condition and enhances human dignity... The balance between the interests of the subject and the humane or scientific value of the research must be weighed carefully... A detailed list of prescribed and proscribed procedures would be impractical... The principles should not be a substitute for considered judgement.”

 Reading: Textbook pages 130-131 ‘Codes of conduct and ethical guidelines’.

SAQ 1

a) Who sets the standard for psychologists?

b) What would happen to a psychologist who failed to follow the professional code of practice?

c) Why do psychologists now prefer to use the word ‘participant’ rather than ‘subject’?

Informed consent

In the past psychologists had less regard for the rights of their participants (humans and animals). This is a reflection of the political climate of the time. Human rights has become a very important issue and this is apparent in the psychologist’s code of conduct for carrying out research with human participants.

 Reading: Textbook page 131 ‘Consent and informed consent’.

SAQ 2

a) What information should participants be given prior to asking for their consent?

b) What special problems face psychology students who are asked to participate in research?

c) How does Milgram’s study illustrate some of the issues of informed consent? Would the experiment be possible with fully informed consent?

d) How does Zimbardo’s study illustrate some different issues of informed consent?

A participant may give his/her consent because he/she does not fully understand what the research will involve. Having taken part, he/she is in a better position to give their informed consent and if necessary exercise the right to withdraw.

SAQ 3

It has been claimed that Milgram denied his participants the right to withdraw. How would Milgram defend himself?.

Deception and debriefing participants

Many psychological experiments require the use of the single blind technique (where the participant is not aware of the purpose of the investigation) in order to collect unbiased data. This poses ethical problems for the researcher who must defend the design in terms of means versus ends.

Activity

Identify the deceptions used in Asch, Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s experiments.

Gamson et al. (1982) used the following technique to avoid deceiving their participants but at the same time being able to use a single blind design. When participants volunteered, they were asked if they would take part in any of the following studies:

 Research in brand recognition of commercial products.

 Research on product safety.

 Research in which you will be misled about the purpose until afterwards.

 Research involving group standards.

When the participants had agreed to being involved in all of the studies, they were told that only the last kind was in progress currently. Therefore they had agreed to be deceived.

The normal procedure when deception has been necessary in a study, is to debrief the participants afterwards.

Psychologists sometimes justify the use of deception by saying that people, when asked, report that they don’t mind being deceived, that they felt it was justified and would take part again. Their critics say that even though this might be the case, it doesn’t make the practice ethical.

 Reading: Textbook page 132 and pages 129-130

SAQ 4

a) Can deception be justified in Milgram’s study? Could the results have been obtained in a different way? Does thorough debriefing always overcome any ethical objections there might be? (See Box 6.14)

b) Why is deception in social psychological research the most potentially damaging?

c) Is Gamson’s technique ethically ‘better’ than straightforward deception?

Protection of participants

Recent psychological research rarely involves actual physical harm to participants; however, distress and even embarrassment should also be regarded as detrimental and participants’ rights should be protected. Distress may occur if a participant is angered. Stress may occur if the participant feels he/she has harmed or upset someone else (e.g. Milgram or Zimbardo). Also if an experimental manipulation is negative rather than positive (e.g. in a study by Rosenthal and Jacobsen some students were identified to a teacher as those who would do well, whereas others were not, which could have had a detrimental effect on the work of latter).

A further issue is the ‘deal’ that is often struck between participants and researchers, who are often students and their lecturers. For example, Newcomb’s students were given rent-free accommodation in return for their participation; Asch paid volunteers $3 an hour, Zimbardo paid his participants $15; participation in some cognitive psychology experiments is part of course requirement; and Dion et al. gave their student participants extra points on their final exam grade.

 Reading: Textbook page 132 & pages 128-129.

SAQ 5

a) How did Baumrind argue that Milgram’s experiments resulted in harm to participants? To what extent was Milgram successful in answering this criticism?

b) Describe and briefly comment on a study that involved distress (or stress) to participants.

c) In what way is the practice of paying participants or awarding course credits unethical?

Debriefing and confidentiality

At the start of a study, participants are given some research details and instructions, these constitute the research briefing. Once participants’ active participation has ceased they should be debriefed. This may happen immediately after their participation and/or at a later date when the results are available. There are several things which should be considered in relation to the results namely: confidentiality and publication of data.

 Reading: Textbook pages 132.

SAQ 6

a) What information should a psychologist include when debriefing participants?

b) How can psychologists protect the confidentiality of their participants?

Means and ends

In order to make an ethical decision you must always consider the balance between means and ends. In medical research this is easier because we can say that certain research ultimately may enable many lives to be saved. Psychological research rarely involves the saving of life or even the prevention of serious illness, but it often offers insights into human behaviour that could have important applications such as reducing aggression.

References

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