PSYC 200W Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Selection Bias, Institutional Animal Care And Use Committee, Institutional Review Board
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Ethical Perspectives
Deontology - judges it by the universal moral code, "black & white" -- moral or immoral
Ethical skepticism - "it depends" -- ethical rules are bound by time, culture; depends on the
individual to decide what is ethical for themselves and cannot be imposed from outside
Utilitarian - morality of a situation depends on the consequences of that act -- if benefits
outweigh the costs, action is ethical (cost-benefit analysis)
Ethical guidelines:
Professional organization - APA
APA follows the utilitarian or pragmatic approach - engage in cost-benefit analysis
Benefits and Costs
Benefits of research
oBenefits students by trying out experimental research
oincrease basic knowledge
oimproves research
oHuman and/or animal welfare
oParticipant benefits
Costs
oTime & effort
oRisks such as social discomfort, stress, boredom, anxiety
oSuffer if confidentiality clause is broken
oConducting research costs money
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
oReviews proposed research to ensure its ethical
oMembers of IRB are from different disciplines and one member must be of local
community and not associated with the institution
oMust submit a written proposal to use human participants
oSpecial attention to vulnerable groups - children, prisoners, pregnant women
oEthical issues with human participants
Lack of adequate informed consent
Invasion of privacy
Coercion to participate
Potential physical or mental harm
Deception
Violation of confidentiality
Informed consent: participants voluntarily agree to participate through a documentation but only after
they have learned enough to make a knowledgeable decision. Protects peoples' rights:
They must be notified of all the risks that pertain to the experiment.
After giving consent, they can choose to stop participating without any penalty.
Contact info of researchers so they can clarify any questions
Debriefing must follow
Problems with obtaining informed consent:
Compromising the validity of the study - participants don't always behave the same when they
know they are being observed or tested over a certain criteria
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Deontology - judges it by the universal moral code, "black & white" -- moral or immoral. Ethical skepticism - "it depends" -- ethical rules are bound by time, culture; depends on the individual to decide what is ethical for themselves and cannot be imposed from outside. Utilitarian - morality of a situation depends on the consequences of that act -- if benefits outweigh the costs, action is ethical (cost-benefit analysis) Apa follows the utilitarian or pragmatic approach - engage in cost-benefit analysis. Benefits students by trying out experimental research increase basic knowledge improves research: human and/or animal welfare o. Risks such as social discomfort, stress, boredom, anxiety. Special attention to vulnerable groups - children, prisoners, pregnant women. Informed consent: participants voluntarily agree to participate through a documentation but only after they have learned enough to make a knowledgeable decision. They must be notified of all the risks that pertain to the experiment.
