Dealing with Ethical Issues

·         Use of presumptive consent and prior general consent as a means of dealing with lack of informed consent

·         Use of role play as a means of dealing with deception

·         Use of ethical guidelines

·         Use of ethical committees

·         Participant is told the true aims of the study

·         There is an opportunity to discuss concerns

·         Option to withdraw

·         Deals with lack of informed consent

·         Doesn’t turn back the clock

·         Participants can still feel embarrassed and have low self esteem 

·         Deals with deception and informed consent concerns

·         Asks similar participants would they agree to take part

·         If they consent, presumably so would the real participants 

·         Must approve before research takes places

·         Looks at all possible ethical concerns

·         Looks at how the researcher proposes to deal with them

·         Cost benefit analysis

·         However, cost benefit is flawed

·         Involves subjective judgment

·         Costs not always apparent

·         May raise more problems than it solves

·         British Psychological Society

·         American Psychological Association

·         Codes of conduct and ethical guidelines

·         Tells psychologists what is and isn’t acceptable, how to deal with problems

·         Rather general

·         Can’t cover every situation

·         Canadian Psychological Association presents hypothetical situations and invites discussion

·         APA and BPS are weaker as they are closed

·         Absolves researchers of responsibility 

·         Can be barred from practising psychology

·         Not legal, can affect livelihood though