It is of the utmost importance that psychological research is carried out to the highest possible ethical standards. The role of research psychologists puts the individual in a position of authority that is open to abuse. The key principles are normally taken to be (i) doing no harm, (ii) informed consent, (iii) freedom to withdraw and (iv) confidentiality, and these are the main principles identified by the British Psychological Society in the ethical code of conduct (BPS, 1996). American ethical codes tend to be more extensive and also include such as plans for data security, reporting of results, publication credit, plagiarism and sharing data (APA, 1992).
1.4.2 Consent
No-one should be coerced to take part in a study. Subjects must be told what is going to happen to them, they must understand what they are told and they must give consent on that basis. If the research extends over a period of time then consent must be sought on several occasions. Childrens consent should be obtained from parents or teachers (who act in loco parentis) as well ideally as from the children themselves. The emphasis here is on informed consent. If a subject agrees to take part in a study that agreement can only be to that which he understands his participation in the study to involve.
1.4.3 Deception
Sometimes psychological research requires the subject is not aware of all the features of an experiment. Sometimes the deception is trivial as when a researcher asks everyone in the room to complete the questionnaire in front of them clearly implying that there is only one definitive questionnaire, when in fact there are four different versions around the room each with subtle differences in instructions. More usually though deception in the past has involved telling a subject that she has performed poorly on a test of intelligence to observe the nature of her contributions to a decision-making group subsequently to test the impact of low self-esteem on social confidence. If we tell subjects everything about a study the study will be pointless since they will alter their behaviour. If we tell them nothing then they will occasionally and understandably complain that we have deceived them. Where do we draw the line? The general rule is that deception should not be used unless: (i) subjects are not likely to object once they are told about how they were deceived, and (ii) the prospective scientific, educational, or applied value justifies the deception, and (iii) there are no alternatives. Although psychologists are urged by both the BPS and the APA to consult with disinterested and independent advisors the application of these principles is the responsibility of the individual researcher.
1.4.5 Confidentiality
All information gained about a subject during an experiment is confidential unless explicitly agreed in advance with individual subjects. Thus subjects must never be named or otherwise made identifiable from any written report on the study. Legal considerations might overrule this in terms of the Data Protection Act or court order. Psychologists do not enjoy the kind of privileged relationship with their subjects as doctors do with their patients or lawyers with their clients. Subjects are often reassured to be told that results will only ever be presented as aggregates with no individual data being identified. A distinction must be drawn between anonymity and confidentiality. Anonymity means that the subject cannot be identified subsequently, even by the researcher while confidentiality implies that although the subject is in principle identifiable no identification will in fact be made. It is important when running your own experiments not to promise anonymity when what you mean is confidentiality.
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