Prepare for Year 3 Consideration of Ethics Sarah Stevenage

Your Responsibilities Research so far – Ethical consideration on your behalf In Year 3 – Ethical consideration with support of your supervisor BPS Code of Ethical Conduct – is it ethical? Research Governance Office – is it safe? ERGO SYSTEM (Ethics and Research Governance Office)

Basic Principles… No harm is incurred (now or later) Some (eventual) good will come out of the research Safety of participants and researchers is clear Public image of psychology is not damaged Respect for individuals is shown (consent, confidentiality, right to withdraw, etc.)

Is it Ethical? Declaration of Helsinki (2000) 22. …After ensuring that the subject has understood the information, the [researcher] should then obtain the subject's freely-given informed consent, preferably in writing. If the consent cannot be obtained in writing, the non-written consent must be formally documented and witnessed.’

What does consent mean? Participant is ABLE to give consent (capacity) Participant KNOWS what they are consenting to (informed) Participant is acting under their own FREE WILL (choice)

How is consent shown? Participant agreement is given by: Person with capacity Person provided with enough information Person acting voluntarily (note – payment is sometimes seen as ‘coercion’) Not just a signature on a form! Information sheet is critical (we look carefully at this) Who will see the data? What are the rights of the participant? Is there reassurance of no consequences of withdrawal?

When may consent be hard to obtain? Mental Capacity Legal guardian’s informed consent Ensure information is pitched to enable understanding Mental Health Mental health and mental capacity... Mood checks Debriefing and appropriate support if needed Children Parental informed consent if < 16yrs Use stories/pictures/practice… to ensure child’s understanding Researchers will need CRB check

Are there some things you can’t do? Of course! What about: Deceptioni.e., false feedback Negative proceduresi.e., negative images Sensitive/clinical issuesi.e., self-harm What to do? Inform participants Mood restore (i.e., rate jokes, describe how did task…) Debrief carefully Ensure appropriate support (not always YOU!)

What about joining an existing study? Some projects already have ethical approval… Don’t go through the whole process again Do submit an amendment enabling you to be a researcher Do write a short section ( words) on the ethical issues raised by the area of research – this goes in your final project report.

Some considerations… Imagine a study in which participants take part in a test. They get false feedback which either tells them they have done WELL, or tells them they have done BADLY. What are the issues for your ethics committee?

Some considerations (cont.) Imagine a study in which you are testing participants on a standardised test. One participant scores in the ‘abnormal’ range indicative of a specific ‘deficit’. What should you do?

Some considerations (cont.) A researcher wants to conduct a piece of research investigating self-harm. They will use an interview method and a standard questionnaire in order to examine people’s motivations to self-harm. What might the concerns be for the ethics committee?

What now? ERGO Demonstration Liaison with Supervisors Participant Access

What is ERGO? Ethics and Research Governance Online Online research proposal system.

What is Research Governance? ‘The primary function of the Research Governance Office (RGO) is to arrange research sponsorship and insurance for eligible research projects.’ It is NOT ethical approval

Who needs to use ERGO? Everyone conducting research in Psychology Everyone conducting research at the University!

How do I use it? 1. Login to 2. Create a new research project 3. Complete the IRGA form (Insurance and Research Governance Application) 4. Attach documents / supplementary material 5. Submit

What's the process? Create/edit Submission Submit to Supervisor Auto submits to Ethics Committee Auto submits to RGO Approved Approved? Rejected OK to start research notifications throughout CHECK YOUR !

When can I start my research? ONLY after Ethics approval AND RGO review