Research Ethics

The American Psychological Association Guidelines

Protecting the Welfare of Animal Subjects
Fraud in Science
Plagiarism
Ethical Reports

What are research ethics?

Research ethics are a framework of values

within which we conduct research.
Ethics help researchers identify actions we
consider good and bad, and explain the
principles by which we make responsible
decisions in actual situations.

Research Ethics

What is an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

Institutional review boards (IRBs), which

are composed of laypeople and researchers,
evaluate research proposals to make sure
that they follow ethical standards.

Research Ethics

What is its purpose?

IRBs protect the safety of research participants.

Their first task is to decide whether a proposed
study increases participants risk of injury since
psychological research can cause physical
and/or psychological discomfort.

Research Ethics

What is its purpose?

As researchers, we must accurately estimate

the degree of risk in our research. We typically
do this by reading the literature and consulting
with colleagues.
IRBs will also help researchers estimate the
degree of risk involved in their studies.

Research Ethics

What do "at risk" or at "minimal risk mean?

Studies that place subjects at risk increase

the chance of harm compared with not
participating in the study.
Minimal risk studies do not increase the
likelihood of injury.

Research Ethics

When should an IRB approve an "at risk" study?

IRBs should approve an at risk study when

a risk/benefit analysis determines that risks
to participants are outweighed by gains in
knowledge.

Research Ethics

Which three principles did the Belmont Report

(1979) emphasize?

The Belmont Report proposed three principles:

1. Respect for persons: individuals have
the right of self-determination (basis of
informed consent).

Research Ethics

Which three principles did the Belmont Report

(1979) emphasize?

2. Beneficence: minimize harm and

maximize potential benefits (basis
of risk/benefit analysis).
3. Justice: fairness in both the burdens
and benefits of research.

Research Ethics

What is informed consent?

A subject or guardian agrees in writing to the

subjects participation after relevant details of
the experiment have been explained.
This description may include risks and benefits,
but does not extend to deception or the
hypothesis.

The APA Guidelines

What is informed consent?

Perhaps the most important principle built into

ethics codes is the right of a participant to refuse
to be in the study or discontinue participation.
Ethical researchers, therefore, cannot coerce
participants to agree to be in the study or
prevent participants from discontinuing the study.

The APA Guidelines

Who is targeted by APA ethical guidelines?

APA ethical guidelines apply to psychologists

and students when they assume the role of
psychologists during research or practice.

The APA Guidelines

Explain APA guidelines on deception.

Deception may be used when it is the best

way to obtain information.
Deception may not be used to minimize the
participants perception of risk or exaggerate
their perception of potential benefits.

The APA Guidelines

Which steps must researchers take if deception is

used?

Subjects must be allowed to withdraw from the

experiment at any time and should never face
coercion to remain.
The experimenter should provide debriefing
(full disclosure) after either their personal
participation or the completion of the entire
study.

The APA Guidelines

What does debriefing involve and when is it

required?

Debriefing involves explaining the true nature

and purpose of the experiment.
Debriefing is an essential component of good
experimental research. We must offer our
participants a full explanation of our study any
time that we use deception.

The APA Guidelines

What is a confederate? Why is the use of a

confederate deceptive?

A confederate is an experimenters accomplice.

Use of a confederate is deceptive because
subjects are led to believe that the confederate
is another subject, experimenter, or bystander,
when he or she is actually part of the
experimental manipulation.

The APA Guidelines

What is the principle of full disclosure?

Full disclosure means explaining the true

nature and purpose of the study to the subject at
the end of their participation or at the completion
of the entire experiment.

The APA Guidelines

How does debriefing accomplish this?

In debriefing, an experimenter discloses the

true nature and purpose of the study to the
subject and solicits subjects questions at the
end of the experiment.

The APA Guidelines

Explain the difference between anonymity and

confidentiality.

Anonymity means that subjects are not

identified by name.
Confidentiality means that data are securely
stored and only used for the purpose explained
to the subject.

The APA Guidelines

How do researchers achieve these goals?

Researchers achieve anonymity by collecting

data without names and assigning code
numbers.
They achieve confidentiality by storing data in
a locked safe and only using the data for the
purposes explained to the participants.

The APA Guidelines

How do psychologists protect the welfare of animal

subjects?

Animal welfare is the humane care and

treatment of animals.
Institutions that conduct animal research must
establish an Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee (IACUC) to evaluate animal
research before it is conducted.

Protecting the Welfare of Animal Subjects

How do psychologists protect the welfare of animal

subjects?

The IACUC must determine that the researchers

have explored all alternatives and have
documented that there are no other feasible
alternatives.

Protecting the Welfare of Animal Subjects

What does animal rights mean?

Animal rights is the position that sensate

species (those that can feel pain and suffer)
have equal value and rights to humans.

Protecting the Welfare of Animal Subjects

What is scientific fraud? What motivates fraud?

Scientific fraud involves falsifying or fabricating

data.
A researchers graduation, tenure, promotion,
funding, or reputation may motivate researchers
to commit fraud.

Fraud in Science

What are the main lines of defense against fraud?

The peer review process filters submitted

manuscripts so that only 15-20% of articles
are printed.
Replication, where researchers attempt to
reproduce the findings of others, is the second
line of defense.

Fraud in Science

What are the main lines of defense against fraud?

Competition by colleagues for scarce

resources, while a cause of fraud, is the
third line of defense.

Fraud in Science

What is plagiarism? Why is it wrong?

Plagiarism is misrepresenting someones

ideas, words, or written work as your own.
Plagiarism is a form of fraud, in which an
individual claims false credit for anothers ideas,
words, or written work.

Plagiarism

Which ethical issues may be involved in research

reports?

Authorship credit should only be given to those

who made a major contribution to the research
or writing.
Researchers should not take credit for the same
research more than once.

Ethical Reports

Which ethical issues may be involved in research

reports?

The ethical solution is to cite original publications

when republishing data in a journal article or
republishing journal articles in an edited volume.

Ethical Reports