Lecturer: Dr. Adote Anum , Dept. of Psychology Contact Information: aanum@ug.edu.gh College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017
Session Overview • Research ethics are a set of principles that guide researchers in conducting good research. Researchers’ main interest is to provide explanations to human phenomenon. There are several incidents in history in what scientists have abused the rights of people sometimes inadvertently in trying to achieve this goal. Two common examples are the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Milgram’s Obedience Study. • In this Session, we will discuss what these are rules are and why they have become necessary in psychological research.
Session Outline The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows: • Topic One: What is Ethics in research? • Topic Two: What are the APA ethical principles?
Reading List • Cozby, P. C. (2004). Methods in behavioral research (8 th Ed.). Mayfield Pub. Co. CA. (Chapter 2) • Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67 , 371 – 378 • http://open.lib.umn.edu/psychologyresearchmethods/ (Chapter 1, pages 38 – 55). Please refer to Sakai for the PDF version of this textbook.
Topic One WHAT ARE ETHICS IN RESEARCH?
Ethical Issues in Scientific Research • We will start this Session by reviewing some landmark studies that have guided the study of ethics in psychological research. • There are several but there are two that stand out and you have to be informed about them.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study • From 1932 to 1972 a longitudinal study was conducted in Macon county, Alabama. • 399 men with syphilis were compared with 201 uninfected men. All participants were African American • Participants were promised free treatments for “bad blood.” Participants were not told they had syphilis. • By 1945, Penicillin was the treatment of choice for syphilis. * Reference: http://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/default.htm
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study • Men agreed to be freely examined and treated. However, they were not informed of the real purpose of the study and thus could not provide informed consent. • Men were never given adequate treatment for syphilis. Never given the choice to quit the study once the benefits of penicillin were known to researchers.
Milgram (1963) Obedience Study • 40 Male participants are told that the study is about memory and learning. The goal is to help another person learn word pairs (e.g., nice-day, dog-cat). • How? Shock the Learner! • “Random” draw to see who is the teacher and who is the learner. The learner is really a confederate. • Teacher is put in front of an electronic shock generator with a range of voltage levels (range 15 to 450 volts) • Labels: Slight Shock to Danger: Severe Shock • At 300 volts the Learner pounds on the wall
Milgram (1963) Obedience Study • “ Of the 40 subjects, 26 obeyed the orders of the experimenter to the end, proceeding to punish the victim until they reached the most potent shock available on the generator…” • The maximum shock was labeled 450 volts, and this was two steps beyond the designation: “ Danger: Severe Shock ”
The Milgram Obedience Study • What are the Ethical Concerns with this Study? • Please summarise in your words (no more than three sentences ) what bothers you about this research.
Belmont Report • Created on 18 April 1979 – named after the Belmont Conference Center in Elkridge, Maryland. • Articulated three "basic ethical principles" relevant to research involving human participants – Respect for Persons – Beneficence – Justice • Reference: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont. htm#xrespect
Ethical Issues in Scientific Research • Diener & Crandall (1978) have identified three main areas of ethical concerns in psychological research. – Relationship between society and science – Professional Issues Falsification Fabrication Plagiarism – Treatment of research participants • Our emphasis is on this
Topic Two WHAT ARE THE APA ETHICAL PRINCIPLES?
Ethics in Psychological Research • What are Ethics? – Ethic in general may be defined as the professional values foundational to the profession – In research, it may be referred to the correct rules or guidelines of conduct that are necessary when caring out research . • Although they are not legal issues, when not followed they can invalidate the outcome of research which is a major objective of scientific research
6 Key Themes in Ethical Research 1. Informed Consent 2. Freedom from Coercion 3. Protection from Physical and Psychological Harm 4. Protection of Privacy, Confidentiality, or Anonymity 5. The Risk-Benefit Rule 6. Debriefing
Ethical Issues in Scientific Research • Respect for Persons and their autonomy – Free will to make decisions about participation or give consent – informed consent • Beneficence and Nonmaleficence – Studies should be conducted in way that minimizes the probability of harm to the participants and maximizes the probability of benefit
Ethical Issues in Scientific Research • Justice – Who gets the benefit and who gets to carry the burden • Trust – The issue of deception • Debriefing
What is Deception in Research? • Deception is the act of misleading or wrongly informing someone about the true nature of a situation • This done when researchers think knowing about the true nature of the research can influence how the participants respond and therefore affect the reliability and validity of the study findings • Can you thinking of some circumstances that might be relevant?
What is Deception in Research? • Active Deception – The experimenter actively misleads the participant. For example use of placebo in an experiment. • Passive Deception – Information is withheld from the participant.
What is Deception in Research? • Deception can have negative consequences that may include: – It violates an individual's right to choose to participate – It raises questions about the objectives of the study – May lead to distrust or cause unintended psychological problems as in the case of Milgram’s obedience study
What is Deception in Research? • According to the American Psychological Association (APA), it is permissible to use deception under these conditions: – The research is important – There are no alternatives – There is no foreseeable harm to participants • Sometimes deception is the only way to investigate important questions. This is very common in social psychological research or personality research.
APA Guidelines on Deception • Psychologists do not conduct a study involving deception unless they have determined that the use of deceptive techniques is justified by the study's significant prospective scientific, educational, or applied value and that effective nondeceptive alternative procedures are not feasible. • Psychologists do not deceive prospective participants about research that is reasonably expected to cause physical pain or severe emotional distress. • Psychologists explain any deception that is an integral feature of the design and conduct of an experiment to participants as early as is feasible, preferably at the conclusion of their participation, but no later than at the conclusion of the data collection, and permit participants to withdraw their data.
References • Cozby, P. C. (2004). Methods in behavioral research (8 th Ed.). Mayfield Pub. Co. CA. (Chapter 2) • Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67 , 371 – 378 • http://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/default.htm • http://open.lib.umn.edu/psychologyresearchmethods/ (Chapter 3, pages 38 – 55). Please refer to Sakai for the PDF version of this textbook.
THANK YOU
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