Chapter 14: Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research

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Chapter 14 Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research

• deontology ethics must be enforced and upheld
  and no study should be conducted if ethics is
  compromised
• ethical skepticism agree that ethics are
  important, but ethics should be should conform to
  the researchers conscience
• utilitarian ethical decisions depend on the
  consequences of the action
• weigh the benefits of a research study against
  the potential costs (risks)
• approach of the American Psychological
  Association (APA)

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• Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Potential benefits
• basic knowledge enhance our understanding of
  psychology or behavioral process
• improve research techniques improve research
  procedures and measures (reliability, validity).
• practical implications improve welfare of humans
  and animals (clinical research, research to
  enhance learning and aide children with
  disabilities)
• benefit for researchers increased knowledge
  about research process, educational function.
• benefits for participants common in clinical
  research when testing therapies to help them with
  a problem

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• Potential Costs
• Potential risks include physical injury, social
  injury, and mental or emotional stress
• Risks must be evaluated in terms of participants
  everyday activities, their physical and mental
  health, and capabilities.
• Examples include social discomfort, stress,
  threats to self-esteem, anxiety, physical pain,
  or even health risks.

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• A subjective evaluation of the risks and benefits
  of a research process is used to determine
  whether the research should be conducted.
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews research
  conducted with human participants to ensure it is
  ethical.
• Consider the risk/benefit ratio, if risks
  outweigh the benefits then they do not approve
  the research, if benefits outweigh the risks then
  they may approve it.

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• Ethical Issues
• 1) Informed Consent
• Researchers must inform participants about
• the purpose of the research, expected duration,
  and procedures
• their right to decline to participate and to
  withdraw from the research once participation has
  begin
• reasonable foreseeable factors that may influence
  their willingness to participate (risks, adverse
  effects, discomfort)
• researchers do not need to inform the participant
  of everything about the study or the
  hypotheses.

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• Informed consent form provides information about
  the study and includes required statements
• The participant or their legal guardian (in cases
  with children) must sign the consent form.
• Problems obtaining informed consent
• Compromise the validity of the study researchers
  may not be able to fully inform participants
  about all aspects of the study because people may
  act differently if they know they are being
  observed (reactivity) of if they know what the
  researchers are studying

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• Participants unable to give consent children,
  individuals with mental retardation and severe
  psychological problems are not cognitively able
  to make a decision about research participation
  and thus cannot give informed consent.
• The person's parent or legal guardian must give
  consent
• Cases when informed consent is not required in
  some studies researchers can not obtain consent
  like in studies where they are simply observing
  people in public.
• The research must involve no minimal risk to the
  participants and must be in naturalistic
  observation setting.

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• 2) Invasion of Privacy
• Participants should have the right to decide to
  what extent their behavior and beliefs will be
  revealed, and to whom.
• No clear APA guidelines.
• Decision is left up the the researcher and IRB

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• 3) Coercion
• Occurs when participants willingness to
  participate may be influenced by pressures from
  the researchers.
• Occurs when professors require their students to
  participate in research
• When participants are offered a high incentive to
  participate (financial incentive).
• It is OK to pay participants for their time and
  re-reimburse them for travel to the study,
  parking, etc., as long as it is not excessive and
  would not make them want to participate just to
  receive the incentive.

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• 4) Physical and Mental Stress
• Some important topics involve how people and
  animals respond to physical or psychological
  events.
• Stress, fear, failure, and even pain.
• Minimal risk when the procedures or activities
  in the study are similar to those experienced by
  participants in their everyday lives.
• Decision is left up the the researcher and IRB

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• 5) Deception
• Researchers do not conduct a study involving
  deception unless the use of deceptive techniques
  is justified by the studys implications for
  scientific, educational, or applied knowledge and
  that effective nondeceptive alternatives will not
  work.
• Researchers should not deceive participants
  about research that is expected to cause
  physical or emotional pain.
• Researchers should explain the deception in the
  study as soon after the study is completed as
  possible.

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• Deception may involve
• not telling the participant the true purpose of
  the study, so their behavior will not be affected
• using an experimental confederate who poses as a
  bystander or participant in the study
• providing false feedback to participants
• giving incorrect information about stimulus
  materials
• The known use of depiction in psychological
  research may pose a problem because some
  participants may be suspicious of the true nature
  of a study

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• Debriefing
• Researchers should provide participants with
  information about the nature, results, and
  conclusions of the research.
• They should take reasonable steps to correct any
  misconceptions that the participants may have
  about the research.
• If researchers become aware that research
  procedures have harmed a participant, they must
  take reasonable steps to minimize the harm.

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• Goals of Debriefing
• Inform the participant of the nature of the
  study, in more detail.
• Remove any stress of negative consequences that
  the study may have induced
• Get the participant's reactions to the study
• To have the participant leaving feeling good
  about their participation and to thank them.

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• 6) Confidentiality
• Data on participants is only used for research
  purposes and shall only be seen by the research
  team
• Ensure participant's responses are anonymous
• This can be done by assigning a participant
  number to each participant
• If it is a case study, researchers must assure
  that the persons privacy and confidentially are
  protected.

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• Research with Animals
• There are specific guidelines researchers must
  follow when doing research with animals
• All researchers involved must be familiar with
  the guidelines
• A veterinarian must be available if needed
• Lab animal facilities must be regulated by a
  federal organization
• Researchers must make reasonable efforts to
  minimize the discomfort, infection, illness, and
  pain of animals participants.

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• Scientific Misconduct
• Scientific dishonestly includes fabrication and
  falsification of data, as well as plagiarism.
• Fabrication data is clearly wrong, but
  researchers may remove certain participants if
  they did not understand the instructions or are
  extreme outliers.
• This can become a problem if the researcher tends
  to be biased in how they remove participants (to
  support their hypothesis).
• Questionable research practices authorship and
  ownership of data
• Unethical behavior harassment, abuse of power,
  discrimination.