Research Methods for the

Behavioral Sciences, 5e
GRAVETTER | FORZANO

4
Ethics in Research

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 4.1 Introduction

• Should psychologists use deception or

attempt to produce certain feelings in their
research participants?
• In this chapter, we discuss the ethics of
research
– What exactly is and is not allowed
– Reviewing the mechanisms designed to
safeguard the individuals who take part in
research
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 Ethical Principles in Research

• What is research ethics?

– Responsibility of researchers to be honest
and respectful to all individuals who are
affected by their research studies or their
reports of the studies’ results
– Guided by the American Psychological
Association’s ethical principles for research
• What is the difference between research
ethics and morality?
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 Ethical Concerns Throughout the
Research Process
• For each research study, determine:
– What measurement techniques may be used
– How to select participants
– Which research strategies to use
– Which research design to use
– How to carry out the study
– How to analyze the data
– How to report the data

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 The Basic Categories of Research Design

• Two basic categories

– Ensuring welfare and dignity of
participants/subjects
– Accuracy in reporting research results
• Researchers are in a position of control
over participants
– But have no right to abuse this power or to
harm the participants or subjects, physically,
emotionally, or psychologically
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
 Holding Researchers Accountable

• Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

– Reviews human experimental research
• Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committees (IACUCs)
– Reviews research with nonhuman subjects
• Reporting of research is assumed to be
ethical
– Accurate, honest, and valid

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 4.2 Ethical Issues and Human Participants
in Research
• What are the major historical events that
helped shape the current guidelines?
• What are the major elements of the APA
ethical guidelines concerning research
human participants?
• What are the purpose and responsibilities
of the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

 Historical Highlights – Nuremberg Code
the Declaration of Helsinki
• Nuremberg Code (1947)
– Ten guidelines for the ethical treatment of
human subjects in research
• Declaration of Helsinki (1946)
– Provided international ethics guidelines for
medical research

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 Historical Highlights – The Tuskegee
Study and the Belmont Report
• Tuskegee study (1932-1972)
– Withheld penicillin from participants with
syphilis even after it became the standard
treatment – and without their knowledge
• Belmont Report (1979)
– Identifies three basic ethical principles for
protecting human subjects

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 Historical Highlights – Milgram and the
National Research Act
• Milgram’s obedience study (1963)
– Sought to discover how far subjects would go
in order to obey an authority figure
• U.S. Surgeon General (late 1960s)
– Orders federally-funded research proposals
from the Public Health Service to be reviewed
for ethical treatment of subjects
• National Research Act (1974)
– Mandated regulations for protection of subjects
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 American Psychological Association (APA)
Guidelines
• Ethical Guidelines for the Use and
Treatment of Human Participants in
Research
• First set of guidelines for protecting human
subjects in research (1973)
• Updated and expanded many times, and
periodically reviewed

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 The APA Ethics Code

• Ten ethical standards to provide guidance

for psychologists
• See Table 4.2 and the APA website for
more information

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 Major Ethical Issues – No Harm

• (Item 1, Table 4.2)

– Subjects must be protected from physical or
psychological harm
– Clinical equipoise: may violate principle of “No
Harm”
• Unlikely to become common practice
– Zimbardo study (1973)
• Subjects adopted role of prisoner or guard
• Study had to be prematurely ended due to
subjects’ behavior
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 Major Ethical Issues – Deception

• (Item 9)
– May be allowed and comes in two forms
• Passive deception (or omission)
• Active deception (or commission)

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 Major Ethical Issues – Informed Consent

• (Item 6, Table 4.2)

– Subjects must be informed of all available
information about the study so they can make
a rational decision to participate (or not)
– Consent form contains all the elements of
informed consent and a place for the
participant to sign
– Debriefing: post-experimental explanation of
the study to the participant (especially if
deception is used)
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 Selected Components of an Informed
Consent Form

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 Major Ethical Issues – Confidentiality

• (Item 2, Table 4.2)

– Ensured through anonymity
– Includes:
• Attitudes and opinions
• Measures of performance
• Demographic characteristics

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 The Institutional Review Board (IRB)

• Each institution or agency is required to

establish an IRB committee
– Composed of scientists and nonscientists
– Examines proposed research involving
humans
– Reviews research proposals according to
seven criteria

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 IRB Criteria for Review

• The seven basic IRB criteria:

– Minimization of risk to participants
– Reasonable risk in relation to benefits
– Equitable selection
– Informed consent
– Documentation of informed consent
– Data monitoring
– Privacy and confidentiality

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 4.3 Ethical Issues and Nonhuman
Subjects in Research
• What are the major elements of the APA
ethical guidelines for nonhuman subjects
in research?
• What are the purpose and responsibilities
of the Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee (IACUC)?

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 The Debate Over Using Animals in
Research
• Is it ethical to use animals in behavioral
research?
• Researchers use nonhuman subjects to:
– Understand animals for their own sake
– Understand humans via generalization from
animals
– Conduct research that is impossible to
conduct with human subjects

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 Organizations that Protect the Welfare of
Animal Subjects
• U.S. Government Principles for the
Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals
Used in Testing, Research, and Training
• American Association for Laboratory
Animal Science (AALAS)
• American Association for Accreditation of
Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC)

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 Federal Government Regulation of
Nonhuman Subjects in Research
• The federal government requires
researchers using nonhuman subjects to
follow
– The guidelines of the local IACUC
– The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
guidelines
– The guidelines of state agencies
– Established guidelines within the academic
discipline of the researcher
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 APA Ethical Principles for the Humane
Care and Use of Animals in Research
• (Table 4.4)
– Includes the general care and maintenance of
animal subjects
– Governs housing conditions, food, sanitation,
and medical care for research animals
• The Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee (IACUC) reviews and approves
of all institutional research using animal
subjects
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 4.4 Ethical Issues and Scientific Integrity

• What is fraud and how can it be

prevented?
• What is plagiarism and how can we avoid
unintentional plagiarism?

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 Fraud in Science

• The explicit effort of a researcher to falsify

or misrepresent data
• Why do researchers commit fraud?
– To remain competitive in their academic
environment
– Concern that if their research is not published,
they may fail to earn tenure (“publish or
perish”)

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 Safeguards to Prevent Fraud

• Experimental research studies that are

designed to be replicated
• Research articles that are peer reviewed
by experts in the field
• The consequences of being found guilty of
fraud – a big deterrent

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 Plagiarism

• The unethical representation of someone

else’s ideas or words as one’s own
– Can occur on a variety of different levels
– May be a deliberate act or can occur without
your direct knowledge
• Guidelines are available to help prevent
plagiarizing
– See Myers & Hansen (2006) in your text and
Table 4.5
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