Ethics in Research

Chapter 4
Caution! Research ethics is not an issue of
morality; it concerns the proper conduct of
researchers. Researchers have observed their
own conduct and reached a consensus
regarding acceptable conduct for all
researchers.
Ethical Concerns Throughout the
Research Process
 Research ethics concerns the 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. Researchers are usually governed by a set of
ethical guidelines that assist them to make proper decisions and choose
proper actions. In psychological research, the American Psychological
Association (APA) maintains a set of ethical principles for research (APA,
2002, 2010).
 Ethical principles dictate (1) what measurement techniques may be used
for certain individuals and certain behaviors, (2) how researchers
select individuals to participate in studies, (3) which research
strategies may be used with certain populations and behaviors, (4)
which research designs may be used with certain populations and
behaviors, (5) how studies may be carried out with individuals, (6) how
data are analyzed, and, finally, (7) how results are reported.
The Basic Categories of Ethical
Responsibility
 Researchers have two basic categories of ethical responsibility: (1)
responsibility to ensure the welfare and dignity of the individuals,
both human and nonhuman, who participate in their research studies;
and (2) responsibility to ensure that public reports of their research are
accurate and honest.

 Committees such as the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which reviews

research involving human participants, and the Institutional Animal Care
and Use Committee (IACUC), which reviews research with nonhuman
subjects, assist researchers in meeting their ethical responsibilities.
Ethical Issues and Human
Participants in Research
Historical Highlights of Treatment of Human Participants
Until the end of World War II, researchers established their own ethical
standards and safeguards for human participants in their research. The major
impetus for a shift from individualized ethics to more formalized ethical
guidelines was the uncovering of the brutal experiments performed on
prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.

The Nuremberg Code laid the groundwork for the ethical standards that are in
place today for both psychological and medical research.
 The Belmont Report summarizes the basic ethical principles identified by
the National Commission, which are used as the foundation upon which the
federal regulations for protecting human participants are based, even to this
day.

1. principle of respect for persons (autonomy)

2. principle of beneficence
3. principle of justice
American Psychological Association
Guidelines
Ethical Guidelines for the Use and Treatment of Human Participants in
Research

The APA Ethics Code contains 10 ethical standards, and you should be
completely familiar with all of them before beginning any research with human
participants.

The Ethics Code is intended to provide guidance for psychologists and

standards of professional conduct that can be applied by the APA and by other
bodies that choose to adopt them
Major Ethical Issues
 No Harm
 Informed Consent
 Deception

- Passive
- Active
Debriefing- is a post-experimental explanation of the purpose of a study that
is given to a participant, especially if deception was used
 Confidentiality

- Anonymity
The Institutional Review Board
 Each institution or agency is required to establish a committee called an
Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is composed of both scientists and
nonscientists. The IRB examines all proposed research involving human
participants with respect to seven basic criteria.
Following is a listing and brief discussion of the seven basic IRB
criteria (Office of Human Research Protection, 1993).

1. Minimization of Risk to Participants

2. Reasonable Risk in Relation to Benefits
3. Equitable Selection
4. Informed Consent
5. Documentation of Informed Consent.
6. Data Monitoring.
7. Privacy and Confidentiality.
Learning Check
 Which principle of the Belmont Report corresponds to the guideline of “No
Harm”?
a. Respect
b. Beneficence
c. Justice
d. None of the Belmont principles corresponds to “No Harm.”
Ethical Issues and Nonhuman
Subjects in Research
Historical Highlights of Treatment of Nonhuman Subjects
To protect the welfare of nonhumans, various organizations have been formed
including the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)
established in the United States in 1866 (Ray, 2000).

Today, the federal government regulates the use of nonhuman subjects in

research. It requires researchers using nonhuman subjects to follow (1) the
guidelines of the local IACUC (the review board for animal research, similar to
the IRB, to be discussed later), (2) the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
guidelines, (3) guidelines of state agencies, and (4) established guidelines
within the academic discipline (e.g., the APA guidelines in psychology).
American Psychological Association
Guidelines
Ethical Guidelines for the Use and Treatment of Nonhuman Subjects in
Research
Table 4.4 lists the basic standards of the APA Ethics Code for the care and use
of animal subjects (APA, 2010). In addition, the APA’s Committee on Animal
Research and Ethics (CARE) has prepared even more detailed guidelines for
researchers working with nonhuman subjects (APA, 2012). This document,
Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in the Care and Use of Nonhuman Animals in
Research, can be obtained from the APA website.
Major Ethical Issues
The Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee
 Committee that examines all proposed research with respect to its treatment
of nonhuman subjects. The IACUC approval must be obtained prior to
conducting any research with nonhuman subjects.
Learning Check
 Which of the following is a responsibility for the IRB but is not mentioned in
the responsibilities for the IACUC?
a. Review of research proposals
b. Minimizing risk of harm to those participating in research
c. Insuring informed consent
d. Insuring that researchers are qualified
Ethical Issues and Scientific Integrity
 8.10 Reporting of Research

a. Psychologists do not fabricate data. (See also Standard 5.01, Avoidance of

False or Deceptive Statements—Psychologists do not make false, deceptive, or
fraudulent statements concerning their publications or research findings.)
b. If psychologists discover significant errors in their published data, they take
reasonable steps to correct such errors in a correction, retraction, erratum, or
other appropriate publication means.
8.11 Plagiarism
a. Psychologists do not present portions of another’s work or data as their own,
even if the other work or data source is cited occasionally.
Fraud in Science
Error versus Fraud

 Error is an honest mistake that occurs in the research process

 Fraud is the explicit effort of a researcher to falsify or misrepresent data
Why Do Researchers Commit Fraud?
 The primary cause of fraud is the competitive nature of an academic career.

 Another possible motivator is a researcher’s exceedingly high need for

success and the admiration that comes along with it.

 Researchers invest a great deal of time and resources in conducting their

studies, and it can be very disappointing to obtain results that cannot be
published.
Safeguards against Fraud
 Replication is the repetition of a research study using the same basic
procedures used in the original. Either the replication supports the original
study by duplicating the original results, or it casts doubt on the original
study by demonstrating that the original result is not easily repeated.

 A second safeguard against fraud is peer review, which takes place when a
researcher submits a research article for publication. The primary purpose of
peer review is to evaluate the quality of the research study and the
contribution it makes to scientific knowledge. The reviewers also are likely to
detect anything suspect about the research or the findings.
 A third safeguard against fraud is the verification of data through the
sharing of research data. According to APA Ethics Code 8.14 (APA, 2010),
after research results are published psychologists must share their original
data with any other researcher who wishes to reanalyze the data to check
significant claims.
Plagiarism
 Plagiarism is the unethical representation of someone else’s ideas or words
as one’s own.

 Reference citations (giving others credit when credit is due) must be included
in your paper whenever someone else’s ideas or work has influenced your
thinking and writing. Whenever you use direct quotations or even paraphrase
someone else’s work, you need to give that person credit.

 If an idea or information you include in a paper is not originally yours, you

must cite the source.
The following guidelines can help prevent you from
plagiarizing (Myers & Hansen, 2006).
1. Take complete notes, including complete citation of the source. (For
articles, include the author’s name, year of publication, title of the article,
journal name, volume number, and page numbers. For books, also include
the publisher’s name and city.)
2. Within your paper, identify the source of any ideas, words, or information
that are not your own.
3. Identify any direct quotes by quotation marks at the beginning and end of
the quotes, and indicate where you got them.
4. Be careful about paraphrasing (restating someone else’s words). It is
greatly tempting to lift whole phrases or catchy words from another source.
Use your own words instead, or use direct quotes. Be sure to give credit to
your sources.
The following guidelines can help prevent you from
plagiarizing (Myers & Hansen, 2006).
5. Include a complete list of references at the end of the paper. References
should include all the information listed in Item 1.
6. If in doubt about whether a citation is necessary, cite the source. You will do
no harm by being especially cautious.
Learning Check…
Which of the following is an example of plagiarism?

a. Copying someone else’s words without giving them credit

b. Paraphrasing someone else’s words without giving them credit
c. Using someone else’s ideas without giving them credit
d. All of the above are examples of plagiarism
Group Quiz
 Suppose you are planning a research study in which you intend to manipulate
the participants’ moods; that is, you plan to create a group of happy people and
a group of sad people. For example, one group will spend the first 10 minutes
of the experiment listening to upbeat, happy music, and the other group will
listen to funeral dirges.
a. Do you consider the manipulation of people’s moods to be an ethical
violation of the principle of no harm? Explain why or why not.
b. Would you tell your participants about the mood manipulation as part of the
informed consent process before they begin the study? Explain why or why
not.
c. Assuming that you decided to use deception and not tell your participants
that their moods are being manipulated, how would you justify this
procedure to an IRB? What could you do to minimize the negative effects of
manipulating people’s moods (especially the negative mood group)?
 For each of the following, identify which of the three basic principles of the
Belmont Report is being violated:
a. A researcher recruits poor minorities to be participants in a risky
experiment.
b. A researcher tricks people into participating by suggesting that they might
win a contest.
c. A researcher knows that people will feel ashamed after one part of the study.