Ethics and Research
Ethics is Educational Research
 Committee on Scientific and Professional Ethics of American
Psychological Association
-- Ethical Principals of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
-- Ethical Guidelines
-- Treatment of Subjects
 Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association
IRB-Institutional Review Board
-- Weigh the risk involved for subjects
--Determine whether informed consent has been planned for plans for debriefing
participants
-- Give approval to conduct research (institution-participants)
Statement of Ethical Principles
 Ethics- Behavior conforming to the standards of conduct of a
given profession or group
 Planning the study
1. The educator carries out the investigation with respect and
concern for the dignity and welfare of the people who
participate and with the cognizance of the federal and state
regulations and professional standards governing the conduct
of the research with human participants.
-- Be responsible for careful evaluation of ethical acceptability
-- Question as to whether the participants will be at minimal or
at risk
Statement of Ethical Principles (continued 1)
-- Consider all the ethical treatments of research
-- Establish a clear and fair agreement with the participants
prior to participating by informing them of all aspects of the
study
a. Make full disclosure with additional safeguards to
protect the welfare and dignity of the participants
b. Be willing to accept the participants willingness to
decline or withdraw from participating
2. Protect participants from any discomforts physically and
mentally
Statement of Ethical Principles (continued 2)
3. After data has been collected share the information with the
participants
4. Information is confidential unless other wise agreed upon in
advance
Ethical Issues
 Protecting the participants from ham
1. Risks should not go beyond that of what would be a normal
day to day living
2. Participants should not be exposed to undue physical or
psychological ham, discomfort, ridicule, stress, embarrassment,
or loss of self-esteem
 Informed consent
1. Participants should be give choices as to whether to or not
to participate
2. Participants should be given the right to withdraw
Ethical Issues (Continued 1)
3. Participants should be voluntary
4. Participants should be given some information about the
study, but not too much information because it may cause them
to react differently to the survey or interview
5. Participants should sign off and have a copy of the consent
form informing them of the research project
 Right to privacy or confidentiality
1. Participants have a right to privacy
2. Names are removed from the study
3. Data is to be held in confidence
Ethical Issues (Continued 2)
4. No one else other than the research has the information
5. The researcher needs to keep the nature and quality of the
participant’s performance strictly confidential unless
permission has been asked for and granted
 Deception or honesty
1. Research needs to be reported in a complete and honest
fashion
2. There should be no misrepresentations or intentionally
misleading others as to the nature of the findings
3. Always give credit where credit is due
4. If deception is necessary it needs to be justified
5. Inform participants of the deception if it is going to be used
Research with Children
 Informed consent of parents or of those legally designated as
caregivers is required for participants defined as minors (18
and under)
 Signers need to be supplied with all the necessary information
about the research
 Researchers do not present themselves as diagnosticians or
counselors when reporting the information nor or do they
report information given in confidence
 Children may never be coerced into participating nor should be
any remuneration for participating
Ethics and Research
“Hey, wait a minute.
This is unethical!”
“Now, I can’t require
you to participate in
this study, but if you
want to get a good
grade in this year…”
Examples of Unethical Research Practices

“We are required to ask you to sign this consent
form. You do not need to read it. It’s
just routine”
“A few cases seemed quite different from the rest, so we
deleted them”
“ Yes, as a employee in this company, you are required to
participant in this study”
“There is no need to tell any of the parents that we are
modifying the school. Lunch diet for this study.”
“Require employees to participate in the discussions might
be harmful to some one, but it is necessary for our
research.”