Research Ethics

Overview Ethical controversies – Why do we have ethical regulations? Regulatory bodies (e.g., IRB, APA) – What do others say we should do? Ethical Reasoning – What do you do?

Ethical Controversies Historical Examples Tuskegee study (see text) Project MKUltra Willowbrook study Recent Controversies Fabrication: Diederik Stapel (see text), Interpretation: Rind et al. (1998). Psych Bulletin (see Wiki) Replicability “crisis” (see NYT coverage) ESP study (Bem, 2011, JPSP) P-hacking Torture (see videos)

Serve society with high standards Avoid viewing people as merely a “means to an end”

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Who has personal experience with the IRB? Committee composition Levels of review Non-research Exempt Expedited Full-board

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Application Abstract Protocol Consent Form + Process Child assent Characteristics of Participants, especially for at-risk groups Risks and Benefits to Participants + Society Special attention to coercion, privacy and confidentiality, deception and debriefing, crisis management Instrumentation CITI documentation for entire study team

Critique of Regulations Ethics vs. Morality Ethics = principles and rules from an external sources Professional organization, Institutional Review Board (IRB), university, government Morals = personal standards for right and wrong Unethical Ethical Immoral Moral

Critique of Regulations Potential for immorality Reliance on “broken windows theory” High standards with selective non-enforcement Bureaucratic: Many non-experts, slow, variable, decentralized, overly concerned about methodology, unrealistic concerns about low-risk studies Dramatic changes on the way with the revision of the “Common Rule”?

Ethical Dilemmas P-hacking IRB Consent Tobacco Conclusion: What is the single greatest key to avoiding ethical pitfalls? PREVENTION