1. Finish up APA style Ethics
Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

2. Announcements Quiz 4: Due Fri. Feb. 5 (by midnight) Exam 1: on Tuesday
Mixture of multiple choice and short answer
University college writing help:
Online CITI ethics training due week 5
Announcements

3. APA style: Parts of a research report
The basic parts of a research article:
Abstract
Body
Introduction
Methods
Participants
Materials/Apparatus
Design
Procedure
Results
Discussion
References
The rest
Authors Notes, Footnotes, Tables, Figures & Captions
APA style: Parts of a research report

4. The rest When something odd comes up, don’t guess. Look it up!
References (video | video)
Author’s name
Year
Title of work
Publication information
Journal
Issue
Pages
Footnotes
Tables
Figures
Adolescent Depression 29
References
Barnett, P. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (1988). Psychosocial
functioning and depression: Distinguishing among
antecedents, concomitants, and consequences.
Psychological Bulletin, 104,
Beck, A. T. (1978). Beck Depression Inventory.
San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Benoit, D., Vidovic, D., & Roman, J. (1991, April).
Transmission of attachment across three generations.
Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society
for Research in Child Development, Boston.
Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., & Barton, M. L. (1989).
Maternal attachment disturbances in failure to thrive.
Infant Mental Health Journal, 3,
Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., Boucher, C., & Minde, K.
(1989). Sleep disorders in early childhood: Association
with insecure maternal attachment. Journal of the
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
31,
When something odd comes up, don’t guess. Look it up!
The rest

5. Figures and tables These are used to supplement the text.
To make a point clearer for the reader.
Typically used for:
The design
Examples of stimuli
Patterns of results
Figures and tables

6. Checklist - things to watch for
Clarity
Logic of the argument is clear
How are pieces related, clear transitions between paragraphs
Acknowledge the work of others (avoid plagiarism)
Appropriate use of headings
Correct citing and references
Good grammar
Active (preferred) vs. passive voice (avoid)
Active: Summers and Jordan (2009) hypothesized that speakers use to much passive voice
Passive: It was hypothesized by Summers and Jordan (2009) that speakers use to much passive voice
Avoid biased language
Checklist - things to watch for

7. Ethics – people should be treated as ends not means

8. Ethical Responsibilities in Research
Two basic categories of ethical concerns:
Need to consider the rights of our participants in our research
Need to behave ethically as scientists and practitioners
Ethical Responsibilities in Research

9. Ethical Responsibilities in Research
Two basic categories of ethical concerns:
Need to consider the rights of our participants in our research
Need to behave ethically as scientists and practitioners
Ethical Responsibilities in Research

10. Using humans in research
For the most part the researcher has the power
You know what is going to be done to the participants
Participants may feel like they have to do it
Consider the Milgram (1963) study
demonstrated how far people may go to obey authorities
This study itself exemplifies the need for strict rules of ethics
Using humans in research

11. Ethical Responsibilities in Research
Consider ethics at each step
Does the topic/idea for the research have some ethical issues surrounding it?
How are participants selected?
What methods may be used on the participant population?
What measurement techniques will be used?
What design is appropriate?
How are the data analyzed?
How are the results reported?
Ethical Responsibilities in Research

12. APA’s code of ethics

13. APA’s code of ethics 5 General Principles (& many ethical standards)
Beneficence & Non-maleficence
Protection from harm, Cost/Benefits analysis, Confidentiality
Fidelity & Responsibility
Uphold professional and scientific standards of contact
Integrity
Honesty and accuracy in science
Justice
Freedom from coercion
Respect for people’s rights and dignity
Basic courtesy, Informed consent, Debriefing, Avoid deception
APA’s code of ethics

14. Information to allow a person to decide if they want to participate (sample in lab manual pgs 26-27)
Basic purpose of the study
Participation is voluntary
Risks involved
Benefits involved
Rights to refuse or terminate participation
Assent - guardians if participants are not competent
e.g., children, developmentally disabled people
Informed consent

15. Using deception in research
Types
Passive deception
Withholding information about the study
Active deception
Deliberately misleading participants
Avoid it when possible
Consider alternatives to deception
Role-playing
When not possible to avoid
Make sure that you are up front with all possible risks
Potential results must be worth it
Must debrief participants as soon as possible (either right after participation or as soon as project is over)
Using deception in research

16. Costs/Benefits analysis
Costs: all potential risks to the participants
Physical harm
Psychological harm
Loss of confidentiality
Benefits: the “good” outcomes
Direct benefits to participants
Benefits to knowledge base
Benefits to world at large
Costs/Benefits analysis

17. Monitoring of ethics Institutional Review Board IRB Criteria
Minimize risk
Benefits > Risks
Equal opportunity sampling
Informed consent
Documentation of consent
Data monitoring
Privacy & Confidentiality
Monitoring of ethics

18. Scientific Integrity Two basic categories of ethical concerns:
Need to consider the rights of our participants in our research
Need to behave ethically as scientists and practitioners (Integrity, Fidelity & Responsibility)
Fraud prevention
Replication – repeat a research study to validate results
Peer Review – critical analysis of research by peers in the same area
Plagiarism – taking credit for another’s work or ideas
Avoided by citing the ideas or words of others
Scientific Integrity

19. Ethical responsibility to science
Dirty tricks (this will get you thrown out)
Questionable tricks (these are a little fuzzier, but be wary)
Neat tricks (accepted as okay, and sometimes necessary)
Ethics in Science Quiz
Ethical responsibility to science

20. Ethical responsibility to science
Dirty tricks
Questionable tricks
Neat tricks
Ethics in Science Quiz DT
Fabrication of results
Little or no attempt to minimize demand biases
Reformulating your theory as you go
Falsifying credentials
Plagiarism
Little or no attempt to minimize confounds
Deliberately hiding (significant) errors in published work
Little or no attempt to minimize demand characteristics QT NT DT DT QT DT QT
Ethical responsibility to science

21. Ethical responsibility to science
Dirty tricks
Questionable tricks
Neat tricks
Ethics in Science Quiz
QT or DT
Throwing out data
Reorganizing order of report of experiments
Violations of underlying statistical assumptions
Strategic graphing of the data
Duplicate publications (presented as new)
Selective reporting of the results
Leaving out some bad experiments (not bad results)
depends reason for throwing out NT QT QT DT QT NT
Ethical responsibility to science

22. Exam 1 Exam 1: 10% of final grade Short answer & multiple choice
Covers – lectures, textbook, lab material
Textbook Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8
Exam 1