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Flip to reveal answersWhat is the core principle of research ethics?
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All 18 Flashcards — Ethical treatment of participants
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Question
What is the core principle of research ethics?
Answer
Participants' wellbeing comes before the study's results — people before data.
Question
What is informed consent?
Answer
Agreeing to take part knowing what the study involves (a guardian consents for children).
Question
What is protection from harm?
Answer
Not exposing participants to lasting physical or psychological harm.
Question
What are anonymity and confidentiality?
Answer
Anonymity: nobody can be identified from the data or the report. Confidentiality: the data are kept private and used only as agreed.
Question
What is the right to withdraw?
Answer
Being able to stop and leave, and remove your data, at any time without penalty.
Question
What is a debrief?
Answer
Telling participants the true aim after the study and checking they are okay.
Question
When is deception acceptable?
Answer
When it is justified, causes no real harm, and is followed by a full debrief.
Question
Why is full information sometimes withheld?
Answer
People may act differently if they know the aim, so mild deception keeps behaviour natural.
Question
Who consents for child participants?
Answer
A parent or legal guardian.
Question
Name the six ethical considerations.
Answer
Consent, Anonymity, Right to withdraw, Deception, Undue stress (protection from harm), Debrief: CARDUD.
Question
Three parts of informed consent?
Answer
Information, comprehension, voluntariness.
Question
Consent by proxy and assent?
Answer
A parent or guardian consents for a child, and the child agrees (assents) too.
Question
Three types of deception?
Answer
Deliberate misleading (e.g. a confederate), deceptive instructions, and deception by omission.
Question
How can informed consent affect results?
Answer
Those who agree may differ from those who refuse (self-selection bias); knowing the aim can create demand characteristics.
Question
What is a cost-benefit analysis in ethics?
Answer
Weighing possible harm to participants against the value of what the study could find.
Question
What is attrition?
Answer
Participants dropping out of a study before it ends. If those who leave differ from those who stay, the results are biased.
Question
How does anonymity affect self-reported data?
Answer
People answer more honestly about sensitive topics, so the data are more valid. But the researcher cannot follow up.
Question
When may people be observed without consent?
Answer
In public places where they expect to be seen by strangers, with nobody identified and no risk of harm.
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Topic 1.6 hub
Responsibility
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