Five Ethical Standards for Researchers
There are five ethical standards researchers must follow: protection of participants, informed consent, deception, debriefing and confidentiality. These standards form the backbone of ethical standards for researchers. They provide a fair foundation for all research work for the participant and for the researcher.
Protection of participants is the ethical standard by which no participant is harmed physically or harmed psychologically. This means participants should not be exposed to greater risks than they would ordinarily be exposed in their regular life (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998).
Informed consent requires all participants be provided with full disclosure of the purpose of the study, risks of the study as well as the right to end participation in the study. This should be done before the study so the participant can make an informed decision regarding whether to continue on with the study. In the case of children, parents can give consent for the child since the child may not understand what is going on (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998).
Deception is the standard for giving participants an accurate account of the purpose of the study. It serves to keep researchers from telling a participant they are in one role in the study while the researcher intends to study the individual for a completely different reason (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998). This is why it is important to fully disclose the purpose of the study when obtaining informed consent. Debriefing is necessary to fulfill professional responsibility to the subjects in the study. It is intended to remove any negative effects of participation (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998) in the experiment. This procedure helps insure the participant was not harmed in any way from participating in the study.
Confidentiality is an important standard to make sure the participant’s name is not released with any results of the study (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998). Irreparable harm can be done to
Protection of participants is the ethical standard by which no participant is harmed physically or harmed psychologically. This means participants should not be exposed to greater risks than they would ordinarily be exposed in their regular life (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998).
Informed consent requires all participants be provided with full disclosure of the purpose of the study, risks of the study as well as the right to end participation in the study. This should be done before the study so the participant can make an informed decision regarding whether to continue on with the study. In the case of children, parents can give consent for the child since the child may not understand what is going on (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998).
Deception is the standard for giving participants an accurate account of the purpose of the study. It serves to keep researchers from telling a participant they are in one role in the study while the researcher intends to study the individual for a completely different reason (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998). This is why it is important to fully disclose the purpose of the study when obtaining informed consent. Debriefing is necessary to fulfill professional responsibility to the subjects in the study. It is intended to remove any negative effects of participation (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998) in the experiment. This procedure helps insure the participant was not harmed in any way from participating in the study.
Confidentiality is an important standard to make sure the participant’s name is not released with any results of the study (Brown, Cozby, Kee & Worden, 1998). Irreparable harm can be done to
References: Brown, K. W., Cozby, P. C., Kee, D. W. & Worden, P. E. (1998). Research Methods in Human Development (2nd ed.). Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company.