PSYC 2360 Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – Making Ethical Decisions in Research

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2360
• Professor: Dan Meegan

Document Summary

Chapter 3 making ethical decisions in research. Decisions about whether a researcher should conduct a study require ethical judgements. Ethics: application of moral principles to help guide ones decisions and behaviours. The right answer can be difficult to identify when dealing with ethics. Tension between potential costs and benefits that is the foundation of most ethical dilemmas. There is no definitive right or wrong answer to ethical dilemmas, individuals arrive at their own personal code of ethics based on their own perspective and experiences. Utilitarian perspective: ethical decisions should be based on doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people personal benefit, best action is the most selfless action. Altruistic perspective: ethical decision should be based on helping without self-interest. Individual scientists hold different views on ethical issues in a study, so science has establishes a set of ethical principles to help guide decision making.