Ethics in Psychology: Research Standards and Principles

Introduction

Several ethical issues, dilemmas, and problems apply to various aspects of psychology, including educational and scientific practices. The expansive body of literature on ethical issues shows that ethical issues are normally multifaceted and usually pose societal, interpersonal, professional, emotional, and intellectual challenges to psychologists. Furthermore, every psychologist can act unethically and harm their clients. In brief, ethics is important in the field of psychology because it guides psychologists and various aspects of the field they work in.

Ethics, as a field, emerged from inquiries about moral life by ancient Greek philosophers. The term ethics is now described as a set of principles or a system that can significantly alter previous considerations regarding choices and actions. Philosophers argue that ethics is a sub-discipline of philosophy that deals with the dynamics of what is right and what is wrong when making decisions. Concerning research, ethics is an evolving field; some of the research practices that were tolerated and supported decades ago are no longer considered appropriate today (Walsh, 2015). Research, as with every human activity, is guided by social, community, and individual values. Research ethics is a field that revolves around research guidelines, protection of subjects' dignity, and the documentation of research designs, other information, and results (Walsh, 2015). This paper examines the important role of ethics in psychology, with a particular focus on research.

Role of Ethics in the Use of Others' Research

It is important to follow ethical norms, particularly in research, for several reasons. First, ethical norms support the objectives of research, which include truth, knowledge, and prevention of error. For instance, ethical standards in research prohibit the misrepresentation, falsification, or fabrication of research data and therefore promote truth and reduce error. Second, ethical standards promote values such as fairness, mutual respect, accountability, and trust, which enable and promote coordination and cooperation among researchers and scholars and between different institutions. This is important because proper research almost always requires coordination and cooperation between different parties. Without ethical standards and values such as fairness and trust, cooperation would be difficult; activities such as data sharing would become significantly harder. Most researchers who contribute to studies also want credit for their work, and this has become the norm because ethical standards do not allow the stealing or use of other people's work without crediting them (Resnik, 2015).

Third, ethical standards are important in research because they make researchers more accountable. For example, the federal government and many institutions have research policies and ethical codes of conduct that researchers must adhere to in order to receive the support they need, such as funding. If researchers violate established ethical codes of conduct — for instance, by violating rules that protect human subjects or by using animals without necessary care — their funding can be cut. Fourth, ethical standards encourage public support for research studies. Many people support research and the funding allocated to it because they are aware that most researchers are guided by ethical standards and values (Simelane-Mnisi, 2018).

Finally, ethical standards are important in research because they encourage social and moral values, such as public safety, public health, compliance with regulations and the law, animal welfare, human rights, and social responsibility. Without such standards, studies that harm the public, subjects, animals, or researchers themselves could become far more common. For instance, there could be many cases of researchers fabricating or falsifying data during clinical trials, resulting in the approval of drugs or medicines that cause harm. There could also be many cases of research studies failing to abide by biological safety or radiation safety requirements, with tragic consequences (Simelane-Mnisi, 2018).

Role of Ethics in Dissertation Research

Many ethical issues can emerge when conducting dissertation research. Ethical issues typically arise from the problem identification stage through to the publishing of findings. These issues are especially important in studies involving human subjects, since such studies require the protection of participants. Yet researchers are often more concerned with the outcomes of their studies than with the ethical dimensions of their methodology (Kjellström et al., 2010).

Dissertation researchers and doctoral students in particular need to take ethical issues into account at the data collection stage. At this stage, researchers must design a consent form to inform potential participants of the purpose of the study, the risks and benefits, and which portions of their information will be used. Even when participants sign consent forms, it remains the researcher's responsibility to ensure that participants are not exposed to physical, legal, professional, emotional, or economic harm. In the United States, researchers must follow regulations set by the Department of Health and Human Services when conducting dissertation research. These regulations include ethical standards that must be observed in studies with human subjects. Although the standards protect humans in general, they include extra protections for prisoners, children, newborns, human fetuses, and pregnant women. This is one reason why doctoral students are more likely to receive approval from Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) when they avoid studies involving subjects who require extra protections (Kjellström et al., 2010).

Doctoral students must also take ethical norms into account during the data interpretation phase. A biased or inaccurate interpretation of data is unethical. Therefore, researchers must avoid concealing, falsifying, fabricating, or modifying findings in order to align results with their pre-study objectives. Doctoral students must also strive to maintain the anonymity of participants when writing their dissertations. This is why researchers typically remove identifying information and use coding instead, in order to preserve the privacy rights of participants. Researchers must also avoid utilizing biased language and labels, and must refrain from presenting the writings or arguments of other researchers as their own. Finally, dissertations require the use of authoritative journal articles for support, and researchers must properly cite all works used, both to prevent plagiarism and to respect the intellectual property of others (Kjellström et al., 2010). As these considerations illustrate, there are many ethical obligations that doctoral students must keep in mind when writing dissertations, which is why many such students require guidance to ensure full compliance with ethical standards (Kjellström et al., 2010).

References

Hardicre, J. (2014). An overview of research ethics and learning from the past. British Journal of Nursing, 23(9), 483–486.

Kjellström, S., Ross, S. N., & Fridlund, B. (2010). Research ethics in dissertations: Ethical issues and complexity of reasoning. Journal of Medical Ethics, 36(7), 425–430.

Resnik, D. B. (2015). What is ethics in research & why is it important? Retrieved May 26, 2020, from https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/index.cfm

Simelane-Mnisi, S. (2018). Role and importance of ethics in research. In Ensuring research integrity and the ethical management of data (pp. 1–13). IGI Global.

Smith, D. (2003). Five principles for research ethics. Monitor on Psychology, 34(1), 56.

Walsh, R. T. (2015). Introduction to ethics in psychology: Historical and philosophical grounding. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 35(2), 69.