Ethics and Deception in Psychological Research

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Deception in Psychological Research

Briana Conner

                                               University of Phoenix

PSYCH/540 Research Methodology

Dr. Neil Stafford

                                                    April 16, 2012

                When conducting research studies many code of ethics come into play. A researcher has an obligation to follow the code of ethics. Many ethical standards must be followed when dealing with research. When conducting research as well as gathering data there are several ways to do so. Depending on whom you ask some ways are considered ethical and appropriate and some are unethical and inappropriate. Using deception to obtain information is a debatable issue on whether it is ethical or unethical by obtaining data in such a manner. The following paper will define what ethics is along with, discussing the concept of risk/benefit ratio, describing exactly what deception in research is, as well as evaluating the impact deception in research has on psychological research. Deception occurs whenever participants are not completely informed of procedures and goals of the research.

                According to Wikipedia, “ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about mortality, how moral values should be determined, how a moral outcome can be achieved in a specific situation, how moral capacity or a moral agency develops and what its nature is, and what moral values people actually abide by (Wikipedia). Ethics deals greatly with morals. What is considered to be morally wrong depends on the individual you are speaking with. Morals describe how individuals should act and the principles that reflect what is good for individuals.

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                Another factor that is used to determine ethical standards is the risk/benefit ratio. “The risk/benefit ratio is a subjective evaluation of the risk to a research participant relative to the benefit both individual and the society of the results of the proposed research.” (Shaghnessy, Zechmeister, & Zechmeister, 2009)  The Institutional Review Boards (IRB) reviews all psychological research in order to protect the rights and welfare of the individuals participating in the research studies (Shaughnessy, Zechmeister, & Zechmeister, 2009).  In order for research to be approved benefits must outweigh the risks. The IRB will not approve research where the risks outweigh ...

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