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Ethical Issues in Different Kinds of Research - Coggle Diagram
Ethical Issues in Different Kinds of Research
Experiments
Field experiments
participants are not aware that they are taking part in an experiment.
IV: manipulated ; DV: measured
participants are less likely to respond to any demand characteristics or experimenter bias because they probably don’t know that their behaviour is being recorded
Ethical issue: There was no possibility of gaining prior consent, nor was it possible after the experiment to inform people about the study
Natural experiments
impossible to manipulate an independent variable but such ‘manipulation’ occurs naturally
Laboratory experiments
in some experiments it may be necessary to deceive participants.
Examples: Zimbardo’s (1973) ‘mock prison’ study, study of social influence, Gamson et al. (1982) tried to circumvent the problem of deception by arranging for participants to agree to be deceived.
Non-experimental research
Observational studies
observing anyone in a public place may appear to be acceptable but it may also be important to consider what behaviours are being observed
Cross-cultural research
give a rich source of data about diverse groups of people and how they live
At its best it enhances our understanding and gives dignity to people who sometimes do not have a voice.
It is impossible to be free from bias so it is inevitable that some part of the researcher’s views intrude into the observations made of people.
Questionnaire
very commonly used today because of the speed of collecting data and their relative ease of analysis and comparison
Ethical issue: It is not clear how much the respondents are being coerced/pressured to take part, so there are sometimes issues of consent to consider. The questionnaire might also contain questions that could offend or cause distress. - concerning questionnaire surveys, is how the data from the survey is used.
Research using correlational analysis
does not involve any manipulation and therefore we commonly say that we cannot infer cause from correlational data
We intuitively believe in the coincidence of events. If two things happen together we tend to believe they are causally related
Ethical issue: the failure fully to explain the nature of the evidence
With Non-human Animals
To what extent is research with animals valuable?
To what extent is it acceptable or ethical?
The ethical issue: Pain & distress
Do animals have feelings?
The problems lie in deciding what constitutes unnecessary, and how to assess what pain/distress is experienced by animals
Decision making on the design of animal research
Quality of the research. Is the study well designed and carefully thought out?
Degree of animal suffering. How much pain and distress will be experienced by the animal participants?
Certainty of benefit. To what extent can we be sure that the findings of research will be useful?
whether such research is useful or necessary: consider ...
concerned with psychological research
emotion
context
Main concerns:
Preventing harm
Limiting numbers
Seeking alternatives
Attention to individual needs
The care of animals
Guiding principles: 3Rs
Refine the experimental procedures to minimise suffering
Reduce the number of animals used to the minimum required to support risk assessments to protect humans, animals, and the environment
Replace the use of animals, for example, by in vitro methods.
Exempted species
Many countries now ban research with certain animals such as all great apes, including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, and some gibbons. Such animals are regarded as being sufficiently close to humans as to ignore their rights
Commentary
animal research is carefully regulated both by the law and by
professional codes of conduct
Usefulness: the scientific arguments for using animals in research
Generalising from animal to human behaviour
Behaviourists use the theory of evolution to argue that since animals and humans share common ancestors, they are composed of the same building blocks- behaviour and psychologically