Ethical Issues in Psychological Research

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:Psychology

Document 1

Consent is obtained once the researcher informs the participants of the nature of the study. The participants should not be deceived in order to get their consent. They can only make informed consent if they are fully informed. Confidentiality and privacy is also important in research. This can be done by ensuring the anonymity of the participants especially when the study is sensitive. From the results, it was evident the obedience level was higher compared to the disobedience. Only 14 disobeyed after reaching a given point to which they were unable to continue. Obedience is a psychological element which is natural to human. Obedience enables for authority to exist and is necessary to create some harmony in the community. The question here was if people would be obedient to doing things that would naturally be considered immoral or crimes.

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In this case, maybe the results would have been different. The participants might have responded differently if they had been made aware of the nature of the study. Deception results in findings that can be assumed to be ‘guided’ in a way. The study did not protect the participants from psychological harm. The nature of the study was psychologically intense and it could have left some of the participants psychologically disturbed. The researcher also should always make sure that the participants are protected from psychological harm. This can mean looking for alternative methods and experiments that are bound to have less psychological effects. Alternatively, if the study has to be carried out in exactly that manner then psychological support should be provided for the entire project at the beginning and the end.

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