Psychology
Ethics and Socially Sensitive Research
Ethics in socially sensitive research involves considering the potential impact of research on vulnerable or marginalized populations. This includes ensuring informed consent, protecting confidentiality, and minimizing harm. Researchers must also be mindful of power dynamics and biases that may influence their work, and strive to conduct research that is respectful, fair, and beneficial to the communities involved.
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10 Key excerpts on "Ethics and Socially Sensitive Research"
eBook - PDFA Handbook for Social Science Field Research
Essays & Bibliographic Sources on Research Design and Methods
- Ellen Perecman, Sara R. Curran(Authors)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
First, follow-up is rare, and subsequent required reporting to the IRB panel is limited. Second, the scope of ethical considerations does not completely address the nature of social science research, especially if the pro-ject is of some duration, the initial approach is exploratory and open-ended, and the social dimensions of the project are complicated. As research pro-jects lengthen and relationships with those in the locale deepen, the research Chapter 11 ♦ Research Ethics are Essential —— 205 may become richer, but the burdens on the individual respondents and the community may be taken for granted. Or if the research is exploratory, there may be heightened concerns about whether the research procedures will really reveal anything new or open up possibilities for taking research in unanticipated directions that may have subsequent ethical considerations warranting some ethical review. But even more important, social science research is necessarily socially interactive, and by definition, ethical stances and expectations will be invoked in the development of trustworthy rela-tionships between researchers and those in the research site. Thus the weight of ethical responsibilities lies with the researcher and the coping skills gained through disciplinary training (Lederman 2004). For other formal guidance on ethical concerns that exist within the regula-tory domain and beyond it, researchers can sometimes turn to their discipli-nary codes of ethics. These, however, vary dramatically across disciplines, and for some disciplines they are nonexistent. Anthropology, sociology, history, political science, and psychology have well-publicized codes. 17 Each of these disciplines offers guidelines about the ethical issues pertaining to its method-ological approaches as well other dimensions of the profession and discipline.
- Marko Nikolic(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Society Publishing(Publisher)
8.1. INTRODUCTION The intrinsic group of values, standards, and institutional schemes that help create and to control scientific activity are known as research ethics. The organization of ethics of science in habit is finally known as research ethics. The general ethics of science is originated from it, like the general ethics is based on rational morality. The Research is generally tangled with other specialized actions. The research process contains the benchmarks and some credit can be given to ethical responsibilities embedded in research, together with the associations between academics, and temperately with respect for the individuals and institutions being studied, along with accountability for the use and distribution of the research. The targeted assessments being done in separate cases then in those situations the standards should be compared and changed according to the need. The area of Social science research has always been troubled with ethical issues. The challenges that deal with cultural, legal, economic, and political matters are tough issues that are probed by social science. The individuals can view the research process and findings are true and valid to do those ethics should be strongly followed by them. There are many research studies that require the trials on human beings or human subjects should demonstrate respect for ethical issues by gaining permission from the state Human Research Ethics Committee in advance Ethical Issues in Social and Behavioral Science Research 157 before the start of the research process. There are many government policies that require the researcher to follow research ethics that utilizes the human subjects and follow the moral rules in Human Research. All researchers are expected to follow the rules. The communities are generally pluralistic, cultural background and security are very important issues for social researchers while doing fieldwork in developing countries.
- Gary G. Ford(Author)
- 2000(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
207 11 Ethical Issues in Research Most mental health professionals conduct research during their academic training and many continue to pursue research as an important part of their professional activity. Behavioral research is generally conducted to test specific hypotheses arising from psychological theories. That is, researchers have ideas about the variables influencing some psychological phenomenon, and they test their expectations about those variables under specified conditions. Thus, the first topic to be addressed in this chapter is the ethical significance of psychological theory construction. Unfortunately, some researchers fail to recognize the tremendous importance of the ethical issues that arise in planning and conducting research, perhaps because they assume that they are simply conducting objective “science” when they take on the role of researcher. However, ethical considerations are as important in research settings as they are in clinical practice. In both cases, there is great potential for harm, as well as benefit, to those affected by the professionals’ decision making. Concern about the potential for harm to human research participants initially focused on biomedical research. However, notable instances of participants being harmed emotionally by behavioral studies, like Milgram’s (1963) research on obedience to authority, increased awareness of the ethical complexity of behavioral research. Milgram (1963) deceived the participants in his study by making them believe they were administering shocks each time the participant they were paired with (actually, a confederate of the experimenter) made an error on a paired associates learning task. Actually, no one was being shocked. Participants became increasingly upset as they were instructed to administer stronger and stronger shocks, but most of them continued to obey the experimenter’s instructions.
eBook - PDFResearch Methods
A Tool for Life
- Bernard C. Beins(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
These standards are listed in Table 2.3. Of these sections, the one that pertains most to us here involves research. As the ethical guidelines pertain to research, psychologists have certain responsibilities to provide research participants with informed consent, to minimize the use of deception in research, to report research results accu- rately, and to correct any errors in reporting. One further mandate is that researchers must be willing to share their data with other researchers, pro- vided it does not violate the confidentiality promised to research participants. There are a few areas that are of special relevance to researchers. You will have to consider them when you plan your own research because you must present a proposal to your school’s IRB or to delegated representatives of that committee before you can carry out your proposed research. The committee members may approve your research as proposed, but they may Integrity—Psychologists should promote the hon- est and truthful application of the discipline in science, teaching, and practice. Justice—Psychologists must recognize the implications of their professional activity on others and strive to make the best professional judgments they can. Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity— Psychologists must recognize the dignity and value of all people and, to the fullest extent pos- sible, eliminate biases in dealing with people. TABLE 2.2 General Ethical Principles and Examples of Violations Beneficence and nonmaleficence A psychologist would be in dangerous territory in conducting research in which he or she has a financial interest because that interest could cloud professional judgment to the detriment of the participant and others. Further, psychologists who are aware that they are experiencing mental health problems may be acting unethically with clients if their own mental health may lead to poor judgment.
eBook - PDFSocial Research Methodology
A Critical Introduction
- Roger Gomm(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
Research Ethics 16.1 Introduction ‘Research ethics’ refer to rules of morally good conduct for researchers. Just as research cannot tell us what is the good life, research itself cannot tell us what is morally good research. Research ethics are grounded in moral and political beliefs which are external to the research itself. Research ethics are not first and foremost a matter of individual morality. Rather, they are a communal discipline upheld by communities of researchers and others, who police research conduct. Individual researchers thus have to commit themselves to communal ethics, or suffer censure from their colleagues and sanctions from other agencies. There are communities within the community (Chapter 14); different groups of researchers subscribe to different values. Nonetheless, there is enough common agreement, or enough social pressure, for most to sign up to professional codes of conduct such as those issued by the British Sociological Association (BSA) and other organi-zations listed in the Activity at the end of this chapter. To practise as a doctor, nurse or lawyer, clinical or educational psychologist requires registration with a professional body and breaches of professional 365 16 By the end of this chapter, you will: • Understand the way different ethical prescriptions for research follow from adopting value-neutral or value-led approaches to research (see Chapter 14) • Have considered some of the ways in which harm might come to the subjects of social research, and ways of avoiding this • Have considered some of the ethical dilemmas faced by researchers • Have acquired one of the codes of research ethics in use in social research and used it to appraise the ethicality of a piece of research. And you will know the meaning of the following terms: Accountability • anonymization • confidentiality • informed consent • privacy • randomized controlled experiments • research ethics • sympathetic bias.
No longer available |Learn moreAn Invitation to Social Research
How It's Done
- Emily Adler, Roger Clark(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Criminologist Peter Manning (2002: 546) believes “ [w]e owe them, I think, succor, aid in times of trouble, protection against personal loss or embarrass-ment, some distance that permits their growth and perhaps feedback on the results of research if requested or appropriate. ” Although not all social scien-tists offer succor and aid in times of trouble, most aim to act ethically as they plan research, conduct studies and disseminate their findings. In the next chapters we ’ ll be discussing practical and methodological issues, but first we ’ ll focus on ethical principles in research , the set of standards and princi-ples used to determine appropriate and acceptable research conduct. Determining appropriate research behavior is a complex topic and a source of heated debate. Social scientists question whether there is a set of uni-versally applicable ethical principles or whether it ’ s better to take a case-by-case approach and consider each project ’ s specific circumstances when deciding what is, and what is not, ethical. We also know that all possibilities cannot be anticipated. Unforeseen circumstances and unintended consequences at every stage of research — from planning to publication — can create ethical problems. Finally, there is the issue of whether the ethical costs of the study should be measured against the study ’ s benefits for the participants or others. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON RESEARCH ETHICS Ethics did not become a concern of social science organizations as a whole un-til the middle of the twentieth century although individual scholars might have considered the issue earlier. The first ad hoc committee of the American Psy-chological Association (APA) established in the late 1930s to discuss the crea-tion of a code of ethics did not support developing one. It wasn ’ t until the 1950s that the APA adopted a code of ethics (Hamnett, Porter, Singh, and Kumar, 1984: 18).
eBook - PDF- Alan E. Kazdin(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Yet, they are directly relevant in two ways: 1. Many issues that might seem unique to biological sci- ences and medicine are central to psychological research (e.g., collecting genetic information, deciding what con- trol groups should be in clinical trials of psychoso- cial treatments in developing countries). Research now is more collaborative and multidisciplinary than ever before, and major research projects often involve mul- tiple settings, countries, and disciplines and with that a richer set of ethical and legal issues to consider. 2. Even when a particular line of research may not seem relevant to psychology, that research may generate guidelines, laws, and federal and university review criteria that govern all research and place into the limelight subject rights and privileges more generally. I mention guidelines below from many agencies, and these guidelines apply to all research whether or not the issues that prompted the research emanated from psychological studies. Focusing specifically on psychological research, it is easy to identify the situations that routinely raise ethical issues. Actually, the “basics” of psychological experimen- tation raise issues: 1. Experiments require manipulation of variables, which often may subject participants to experiences that are undesirable or even potentially harmful, such as stress, failure, frustration, and doubts about themselves. 2. Implementing most experimental manipulations requires withholding information from the subject. The experi- mental question may address how subjects respond without being forewarned about exactly what will happen or the overall purpose. 3. Experimentation requires assessment or observation of the subject. Many dependent measures of interest pertain to areas that subjects may consider private, such as views about themselves, beliefs about impor- tant social or political issues, and signs of adjustment or maladjustment.
eBook - PDF- Ian Shaw, Katharine Briar-Lawson, Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel, Ian Shaw, Katharine Briar-Lawson, Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
9 Social Work Research and Ethics Richard Hugman INTRODUCTION Issues of ethics have become a major concern in social research in recent years. Questions about the ethical dimension of research proj-ects now often assume a significance as great as that of defining research aims or methodol-ogy. This chapter examines the way in which ethics has grown in importance as a dimen-sion of research, specifically focusing on social work research. The chapter considers ethics as an aspect of research practice, locat-ing it within social relationships, especially as these can be understood as constitutive of power dynamics such as the capacity of some people to affect the lives of many others for better or for worse. So the chapter first exam-ines reasons why we ought to be concerned about ethics in social (work) research. Second, it considers ways in which institutional pro-cesses have come to dominate thinking about research ethics and briefly explores the posi-tive as well as the negative implications of this phenomenon. Then the complexities of seeking ‘informed consent’ are examined as a core issue in research ethics, using an exam-ple from practice to illustrate some of the current debates. In the next part of the chapter consideration is given to the challenges pre-sented by recent developments in applied ethics and this is illustrated by a further detailed example. The chapter concludes by re-emphasizing the way in which the ethics of social work research connects research to the wider professional field of social work. WHY SO MUCH CONCERN ABOUT ETHICS? All research is about the creation of knowl-edge, no matter which paradigm informs the aims and methodology. Whether research is qualitative or quantitative, whether it seeks to answer research questions or to test hypoth-eses, however it builds theory, research is undertaken in order to find new ways to understand the world.
eBook - PDFResearch in Psychology
Methods and Design
- Kerri A. Goodwin, C. James Goodwin(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
• Describe the arguments for and against the use of animals in psychological research. • Identify the essential features of a researcher’s ethical responsibility when completing psychological research using animal subjects. • Identify the varieties of scientific dishonesty, how it can be detected, and understand some of the reasons why misconduct sometimes occurs in science. 2 Ethics in Psychological Research 1 Humans are animals, too, of course. When we use the term animal research, we are referring to research with nonhuman animals. 31 Ethics in Psychological Research A system of ethics is a set of “standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession” (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992, p. 630). As members of the profession of psychology, researchers are obligated to follow the code of ethics established by the APA. When conducting research in psychology, our ethical obligations encompass several areas. Research psychologists must (a) treat human research participants with respect and in a way that maintains their rights and dignity, (b) care for the welfare of animals when they are the subjects of research, and (c) be scrupulously honest in the treatment of data. This chapter will examine each of these broad topics. Before we describe the APA code of ethics, you should read Box 2.1, which describes one of psychology’s best‐known studies and two lesser‐known experiments. The Little Albert experiment is often depicted as a pioneering investigation of how children develop fears, but it also serves well as a lesson in dubious ethical practice. Also, in the name of psychological science, other infants have been subjected to repeated pinpricks in a study on adaptation to pain and have spent up to 14 months in relative isolation. BOX 2.1 CLASSIC STUDIES—Infants at Risk In this chapter, you will learn about an ethics code that is elaborate and finely tuned.
eBook - PDF- Dana S. Dunn(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Keep the IRB’s ethical mission firmly in mind: Unless there are clear problems, no panel ever judges the scientific merit of a project or the novelty or worthiness of the ideas contained within it. Rather, the people on the review panel focus on the likely experience of participants who will take part in the work. Will they be subjected to any stress? Is there anything psychologically or physically harmful in the proposed work? What are the risks involved for people who participate? Can steps be taken to moderate or eliminate any psychologically upsetting aspects of a research procedure? These concerns point to a legitimate question: Are there “risks” in social psychology experiments? In truth, IRBs adopt the view that there is some degree of risk—however Ethical Issues in Social Psychological Research 59 minor—in virtually any piece of psychological research, even the most innocuous one imaginable. Why? For the simple reason that no one can predict how every participant will react to a given research setting, the materials used, and so on. This is the concept of minimal risk. Although the possibility may be remote, some aspect of a social psychological investigation could remind a participant of a troubling personal event. Imagine, for example, that a psychologist was studying grief as a social emotion and the research procedure involved having participants watch a video of a funeral service. Unbeknownst to the psychologist, one of the participants had recently been bereaved and seeing the film caused that participant serious emotional distress. Of course, in practice, few people respond negatively to scholarly investigations, but it is any IRB’s responsibility to anticipate what problems might occur and whether they can be prevented or reduced.
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