Review Sheet: Chapter 3 – Research Ethics
The chapter opens with a story about research concerning the MMR vaccine and autism spectrum disorder. In addition to reading the first paragraph, watch the “Healthcare Triage” video linked in the chapter. You can also access it here: Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism: Healthcare Triage #12
What is your reaction to the video generally, emotionally (as a lay person)?
What does it make you think about research or public understanding?
Identify the problems with the original research arguing that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was linked to MMR vaccine. Name all problems (not just one). (Make sure you watch the entire video to answer this completely.)
How many articles are included in the video that have since shown no relation between ASD and MMR vaccine?
What ethical principle was violated by Wakefield (1998) in his original study reporting the link between ASD and MMR vaccine?
Table 3.1 provides a list of three groups of people that are affected by research. Which of these groups was most impacted by Wakefield’s (1998) report of a link between ASD and MMR vaccines? Why?
In addition, develop examples of researcher actions or reports that would be harmful to the other two groups of people (in Table 3.1).
Two classic studies used to discuss ethical guidelines for research are:
Milgram’s obedience studies (of the 1960s).
Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
You may use your textbook and/or other sources (like Google) to answer the following items.
What are some experiences of Milgram’s participants that raise ethical concerns. (Name several…) Think about the arrangement of the scenario, how they were treated, etc. that could be unethical.
Your textbook mentions weighing risks against benefits. When you think back to Milgram’s research, how it was conducted, and what we learned from it (and its applications),
do you believe the research benefits outweighed the risks to participants?
Imagine you are sitting on an ethics committee (e.g., an Institutional Review Board) and a proposal for this study was proposed. Would you approve it? What changes would you require, if any, before the study could be done?
Your textbook provides a link (https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/clintonp.htm) to President Clinton’s apology to “subjects” (I use that word for a reason) of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Use this page and other sources (such as, https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm) to learn what was done in the study.
(There is a Hollywood movie, Miss Evers’ Boys, that tells the story from the nurse’s perspective.)
Describe, in the space below, the purpose, general procedures, and effects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Describe, generally, what was unethical about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Please use ethics terminology from your textbook, but you also can describe what you view as unethical in your own words.
This section will focus on
historical developments of ethics codes for research in psychology.
You will use section 3.2 of your textbook and other sources as needed.
What is the Belmont Report?
Who wrote it? When was it published? What are its 3 guiding principles?
For whom does it apply? (In other words, who has to follow the Belmont Report?)
What is an IRB? (What do the letters mean and what is its job?)
Identify the 3 levels of risk that can be posed by research to participants.
Review the APA Ethics Code, Standard 8: Research and Publication.
(The entire APA Ethics Code is much larger, encompassing all sorts of guidelines for clinical practice, teaching, etc. Our focus is on Standard 8, which covers research.)
How many sections are devoted to research with humans and how many are devoted to research with nonhumans?
What is the stance of the APA (American Psychological Association) on deception?
Is it okay to deceive participants? Why or why not? When might it be okay?
What is debriefing? When is it usually done? Why is it necessary?
Is it required for all research?
What is informed consent? When and why is it necessary?
How is it usually obtained?
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