Assignment task:
Ethics: Do No Harm
Researchers in psychology (including students) must follow the American Psychological Association's (APA's) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct to protect the rights and welfare of research participants and ensure no harm will come to them. Furthermore, an institutional review board (IRB) committee must review and approve all research studies involving humans and/or animals before the study begins. It is the IRB committee's responsibility to evaluate proposed research studies per the APA's ethical principles and codes of conduct as well as to assess the possible benefits and risks of the studies.
An effective way to develop your research skills is to analyze sample studies. For this Assignment, you will review brief research descriptions, identify and address ethical issues, and apply an alternative research methodology.
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity
- Cozby, P. C., & Bates, S. C. (2024). Methods in behavioral research (15th ed.). McGraw Hill.
- Chapter 3, "Ethics in Behavioral Research"
To prepare:
Read all five of the following research studies and select one for your Assignment.
1. A researcher was studying initial interactions between people. While two students were waiting in a room for an experiment to begin, the researcher covertly videotaped their actions and conversation. Afterward, the researcher told the students about the video recording and gave them the opportunity to have the tape erased.
2. A researcher worked for a time on the production line of a large manufacturing plant to study efficiency. His status as a researcher was unknown to his coworkers. It was not until he was about to conclude his research that he revealed his purpose and identity to his coworkers.
3. To study what types of people are most likely to give money to a stranger, people on city streets were asked for money by a researcher who said he had just lost his wallet. No one was ever told that he or she was part of a research project.
4. To study the effects of alcohol on decision making, a graduate student interviewed college students after they had left a campus bar. With a portable breathalyzer, he registered their blood alcohol levels. Although some of them were found to be intoxicated beyond the legal state limits-and many of them were going to be driving home-he did not inform them of their blood alcohol levels.
5. Participants interacted for an hour with another person who was an accomplice of the researcher. After this interaction, both people agreed to return the following week for another session with each other. When the real participants returned, they were informed that the person they had interacted with the week before had died. The researchers then measured reactions to news of the death of the person.
For the scenario you selected:
Assess possible ethical issues related to the APA Ethics Code: Five Principles (A, B, C, D, E) and identify two that you will use for this Assignment.
Conduct a risk-benefit analysis, including, but not limited to, factors such as physical or psychological harm, stress and distress, confidentiality and privacy, consent, debriefing. Consider whether deception (active or passive) was used or not used. Determine if the study poses a rating of "no risk," "minimal," or "greater risk." Need Assignment Help?
Chapter 3, "Ethics in Behavioral Research"
Consider alternative strategies that could have been used to minimize the possible risks and/or ethical issues (i.e., what changes could make the study ethical).
Submit a 1- to 2-page paper that responds to the following:
Select one of the five research scenarios and complete the following for the study you selected. Do not reproduce the scenario in your response, instead indicate your study selection with a number (e.g., Scenario #3). For the scenario you selected:
Describe the first possible ethical issue and explain how it would violate a specific APA Ethics Code (A, B, C, D, or E), and propose what the researcher could have done differently to remedy the issue.
Describe the second possible ethical issue and explain how it would violate a specific APA Ethics Code (A, B, C, D, or E), and propose what the researcher could have done differently to remedy the issue.
Provide a summary of the results of your risk-benefit analysis, and your overall rating (e.g., minimal risk), of the scenario before and after your proposed changes.
Note: Support your responses within your Assignment with evidence from the assigned Learning Resources. Provide a reference list for resources you used for this Assignment. Use APA style for intext citations and references.