RESEARCH ETHICS

Overview

Ethics vs. Moral Historical examples of ethical issues Efforts to address ethical issues

APA IRB

Real-world discussion of ethical dilemmas

Introduction

Ethics vs. Morality Ethics = principles and rules from an

external sources Professional organization, Institutional Review

Board (IRB), university, government Morals = personal standards for right and

wrongUnethical Ethical

Immoral

Moral

Historical Context

Historical Examples Tuskegee study (see text), Project MKUltra,

Willowbrook study More Recent Controversies

Rind et al. (1998) study Diederik Stapel (see text) Replicability “crisis” (see NYT coverage)

Critical positivity ratio (2.9013) ESP study P-hacking

Funding and Conflict of Interest

Different implications of conducting research that is (a) unfunded, (b) funded by public or non-profit sources, or (c) funded by industry

Short-term concern: Impact of funding source on reported results

Long-term concern: Impact of reported results on funding Examples involving drinks, followed by the

pharmaceutical industry

Serve society with high standards

Avoid viewing people as merely a “means to an end”

APA’s 10 Ethical Standards

Human relations Avoid harm, exploitation, discrimination, harassment, conflicts of

interest Avoidance or careful management of “multiple relationships”

Research and publication Consent, exploitation of subordinates, participant compensation,

deception, debriefing, reporting results, plagiarism, publishing Assessment

Psychologists designing, administering, and scoring psychological tests should have the qualifications to do so

Education and training Accuracy in education/training programs, no sex with

subordinates Privacy and confidentiality Others: Resolving ethical issues, competence, advertising,

record keeping and fees, therapy

APA and Torture

Student summary of the controversy An update from the 2015 APA convention What does this say about the fallibility of

“ethics codes”? How was this controversy influenced by

war-time politics? Should you be a member of an

organization you believe has acted unethically?

How will this policy change be enforced?

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Who has personal experience with the

IRB? Committee composition Levels of review

Non-research Exempt Expedited Full-board

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Application

Abstract Protocol Consent Form + Process

Child assent Characteristics of Participants, especially for at-

risk groups Risks and Benefits to Participants + Society

Special attention to coercion, privacy and confidentiality, deception and debriefing, crisis management

Instrumentation CITI documentation for entire study team

Critique of IRBs

Potential for immorality Reliance on “broken windows theory” High standards with selective non-

enforcement Bureaucratic: Many non-experts, slow,

variable, decentralized, overly concerned about methodology, unrealistic concerns about low-risk studies,

Some of these problems may change with revision of the “Common Rule”

Ethical Dilemmas

P-hacking IRB Consent Tobacco

Conclusion: What is the single greatest key to avoiding ethical pitfalls?

PREVENTION