1. Research Ethics

2. 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?

3. 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)

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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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”?

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