Chapter 4_ Ethical Guidelines for Psychology Research

Chapter 4: Ethical Guidelines for Psychology Research What is Ethics? ● Derived from the Greek word “ethos” meaning “ways of living” ● Concerns moral principles of human conduct The Milgram Obedience Studies ● Told that participants were being split between “teachers” and “learners” (learners being confederates) ○ Teachers were instructed to punish learners for mistakes; through shocks which would increase in voltage ○ Voltage would eventually be as high as 450-volt shocks (which after 300-volts you wouldn’t hear screams anymore ● The simple requirement of “continue”, “the experiment requires you to continue” ● 65% of the participants obeyed - delivering 450-volt shocks to the learner ● Only 2-3 participants (out of hundreds) would refuse to administer the first 15-volt shock Illustrate a Difficult Ethical Balance ● Ethical questions ○ Was it ethical to put teacher participants through such a stressful experience? ○ Were there lasting effects of study after participants had been debriefed ● Balancing risk to participants with the benefit of society Core Ethical Principles ● Nuremberg Code (not a formal law) ● Declaration of helsinki ● The Belmont Report (USA) ● APA Code of Ethics ● Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (Canada) Nuremberg Code ● Following WWII, the Nuremberg trials revealed the horrors of medical experiments conducted on concentration camp victims in Nazi-occupied Europe and this results in the Nuremberg Code ● It is a point statement delimiting the permissible medical experimentation on human subjects ● It is not a formal law in any nation; but it influences the ethical research laws of many countries

Declaration of Helsinki ● A set of ethical principles in regards to human experimentation ● Developed originally in 1964 for the medical community by the World Medical Association ● It is widely regarded as the cornerstone of human research ethics ● Many national leaders have signed the declaration The Belmont Report ● US based guidelines for researchers to follow ● In 1976, a commission of physicians, ethicists, philosophers, scientists and other citizens gathered in Maryland and intensively discussed basic ethical principles researchers should follow ○ Principle of respect for persons ○ Principle of beneficence ○ Principle of justice Guidelines for Psychologists: APA Ethical Principles ● Governs psychologists in their role as a scientist, educator and practitioner ● Covers a wide range of issues: ○ Clinical/counseling issues ■ E.g., fees, competence, relations with clients ○ Organizational issues ■ E.g., advertising, org conflicts, consulting ○ Academic issues ○ E.g., teaching, supervision, relationships ○ Research issues APA Code of Ethics - Research ● E.g., publication credit, honesty in reporting, REB/IRB approval, sharing data, plagiarism, reviewing manuscripts prior to publication ● Doing research ○ E.g., informed consent, integrity, respect for person’s rights and dignity, debriefing, deception Belmont Plus Two: APA Code of Ethics 1. Beneficence and nonmaleficence ○ Treat people in ways that benefit them ○ Don’t cause suffering 2. Fidelity and responsibility ○ Establish trust ○ Responsibility professional behaviour (in research, teaching and clinical practice) 3. Integrity

○ Respect for persons ○ Concern for welfare ○ Justice 1) Respect for Persons ● Respect for free and informed consent ○ Anticipated harms, risks, and benefits ○ What is involved in the study? ○ Simple, uncomplicated language ○ Outlines: procedures, risks, and benefits of the research ○ Option to decide whether to participate (right to give consent) ● Deception ○ Omission : Researchers withheld some details of the study from participants ■ E.g., Batman study ○ Commission: Researchers actively lied to participants ■ E.g., Milgram study ● Debriefing ○ Full disclosure of the research purpose and other important information ○ Usually done at the end of the study ○ Most important when you have any type of deception ■ Given the option to decide not to include their data ● Respect for vulnerable persons ○ Children, infirm, those unable to understand, those in distress ● Respect for privacy and confidentiality ○ E.g., quoting subjects and data storage Respect for Privacy and Confidentiality ● Anonymous Study : Researchers don’t collect any potential identifying information (names, birthdays, photos, etc.) ● Confidential Study : Researchers collect some identifying information, but prevent it from being disclosed 2) Concern for Welfare ● Includes physical, emotional, spiritual, social and economic welfare ○ E.g., not leaving study upset, in pain, embarrassed or humiliated, poorer. Etc. ○ Avoiding humiliating, embarrassing or shaming participants ● Respect for autonomy of participants ○ E.g., can choose to quit at any time or not include their data 3) Justice ● Treat people fairly and equitably ● Equal distribution of benefits and burdens of research ○ No segment of population unfairly burdened by harms of research

● Don’t neglect/discriminate against individuals or groups who may benefit ● Don’t abuse the power imbalance in the relationship between research and participant ● Don’t undermine the respect for the participants with conflict of interest Ethical Principles in Practice ● Research ethics boards : committee responsible for interpreting ethical principles and ensuring research using human participants is conducted ethically. ○ Not all research goes to the ethics boards; minor issues will go to peer review process; larger issues will go to ethic board ○ Universities ○ Hospitals ○ Governments Carleton University’s Research Ethics Board (CUREB) ● All research involving humans conducted by faculty, staff or students at carleton must be approved by CUREB ● External researchers conducting studies at carleton or with carleton faculty, staff or students Submission Process ● Submission form (included info about the study risks, benefits, recruitment process, procedures, data storage, etc.) ● Supervisor approval form (if you’re a student) ● TCPS Core-2022 Training Certificate ● Copies of all written communications (recruitment materials, screening forms, informed consent forms, debriefing forms, questionnaires) Ethical Decision Making: A Thoughtful Balance ● Ethical decision making requires a balance of priorities ● We need to weigh the potential harm to human or animal participants against what the knowledge gained from the research will contribute to society Harms Vs. Benefits ● REB has an ethical obligation to review scientific validity and design of research. If benefits deemed unlikely or exaggerated, REB can require changes to satisfy need that benefits outweigh harms Tri-Council Policy Statement ● Three complementary core principles ○ Respect for persons

○ Fabrication ■ Inventing data to fit their hypotheses instead of reporting what actually happened ● Falsification ○ Influencing the study’s results towards the hypothesis ○ Selectively deleting cases, influencing participants to respond in a certain way ● Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism ○ Representing the ideas or words of others as one’s own ○ APA citations ■ Direct quotes: “Don’t plagiarize” (Derochers, 2024 p.1) ■ Paraphrasing: It is highly recommended not to plagiarize (Derochers, 2024) Other Ethical Standards for Research ● Animal Research ○ “Carleton University is committed to ensuring that the use of animals in research and in teaching conforms to the most rigorous ethical standards while actively supporting cutting edge science.” (CUREB, no date) ○ Carleton University Animal Care Committee (ACC) ○ Animal care guidelines and the three R’s ■ Replacement : Alternatives to using animals when possible ■ Refinement : How can research procedures and aspects of animal care be altered to reduce animal distress? ■ Reduction : Adopting a research design that requires the fewest number of animals possible Terms Debrief To inform participants afterward about a study’s true nature, details, and hypotheses. Principle of Respect for Persons An ethical principle from the Belmont report stating that research participants should be treated as autonomous agents and that certain groups deserve special protection. Informed Consent The right of research participants to learn about a research project, know its risks and benefits, and decide whether to participate. Principle of Beneficence An ethical principle from the Belmont report stating that researchers must take precautions to protect participants from harm and to promote their well-being. Anonymous Study

A research study in which identifying information is not collected, thereby completely protecting the identity of participants. Principle of Justice An ethical principle from the Belmont report calling for a fair balance between the kinds of people who participate in research and the kinds of people who benefit from it. Confidential Study A research study in which identifying information is collected, but protected from disclosure to people other than the researchers. Institutional Review Board (IRB) A committee responsible for ensuring that research using human participants is conducted ethically. Deception The withholding of some details of a study from participants (deception through omission) or the act of actively lying to them (deception through commission). Data Fabrication A form of research misconduct in which a researcher invents data that fit the hypothesis. Data Falsification A form of research misconduct in which a researcher influences a study’s results, perhaps by deleting observations from a data set or by influencing participants to act in the hypothesized way. Plagiarism Representing the ideas or words of others as one’s own; a form of research misconduct. Self-Plagiarism A potentially unethical practice in which researchers recycle their own previously published text, verbatim and without attribution, in a subsequent article.