Counseling Research: Quantitative,
Qualitative, and Mixed Methods
Second Edition
Chapter 2
Ethics in Research
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Learning Objective (1 of 2)
2.1 Understand and define research ethics and research
integrity.
2.2 Apply the principles of responsible research conduct to
the counseling field.
2.3 Describe problems in past research studies that led to
the development of current ethical standards related to the
use of human participants.
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Learning Objective (2 of 2)
2.4 Explain the various ethical considerations in conducting
a research study, from development of a research idea
through publication of results.
2.5 Identify the three central components of the Belmont
Report and how each applies to research within the field of
counseling.
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Research Ethics, Integrity, & Responsible
Conduct of Research
• Ethical codes related to research are included in the ACA
ethical guidelines.
• Ethical decision making related to research practice
includes informed consent, ensuring best treatment for
your client, and ensuring client anonymity in research
data and future publications or presentations.
• Research ethics do not provide specific answers to
ethical dilemmas but guide judgments and decisionmaking processes.
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Research Ethics & Integrity
• Research ethics is defined as the “study or science of
right and wrong – of what one ought to do when
confronted with conflicting values or obligations” (Steneck,
2003, p 240).
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• Research integrity is defined as “a commitment to
intellectual honesty and personal responsibility” (Institute
of Medicine, 2002) and “adherence to rules, regulations,
guidelines, and commonly accepted professional codes
or norms” (Office of Research Integrity [ORI], 2003).
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Responsible Conduct of Research
• Responsible conduct of research is defined as
“conducting research in a manner that fulfills the
professional responsibilities of a researcher, as defined
by his or her professional organization, the institutions for
which they work and when relevant, the government and
public” (Steneck, 2006, p 55).
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Core Areas for Responsible Conduct
Research
a) Data acquisition, management, sharing, and ownership;
b) mentor/trainee relationships;
c) Publication practices and responsible authorship;
d) Peer review;
e) Collaborative science;
f) Human subjects;
g) Research involving animals;
h) Research misconduct; and
i) Conflict of interest and commitment.
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Impact of Irresponsible Conduct of
Research
• Engaging in unethical research can lead to client or
human participant harm.
• It is imperative that all counseling professionals learn and
become familiar with the ACA’s ethical codes and other
pertinent ethical codes, and engage in research integrity.
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Roles & Responsibilities of Researchers in
the Counseling Profession
• All counselors, including students-in-training, counselor
educators, and counseling practitioners, are ethically
bound to engage in the responsible conduct of research
and following the ethical guidelines of their profession
and the setting in which they work
• Some counselor researchers admit to not following such
guidelines in practice, for example, by not obtaining
parental consent when conducting research with a minor
(Wester, Willse, & Davis, 2010)
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Researcher Responsibilities (1 of 2)
You must consider how subjects are affected by:
• The research question(s) you decide to investigate.
• The design of your study.
• The methodology you select.
• The instrumentation you use to collect data.
• The possible risks to participants by participating in your
research.
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Researcher Responsibilities (2 of 2)
• Taking steps to minimize those risks.
• The actual data collection process.
• The presentation of informed consent information.
• The data analysis process.
• The confidentiality procedures you use to protect information
you collect on subjects
• How you share the results of your research through
discussions, workshops, presentations and publications.
• Your decisions to uphold participants’ rights throughout your
study.
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Evolution of Research Ethics
Four studies from the 20th century led to the development
of today’s ethical standards to protect human rights:
a) the Nazi Medical War Crimes,
b) the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,
c) the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Study,
d) the Willowbrook Study
(National Institute of Health[NIH], 2002).
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Nazi Medical War Crimes
• In World War II, Nazi physicians conducted medical
experiments on prisoners in concentration camps to
investigate how the human body would react to various
extremes.
• The majority of these medical experiments resulted in
anguish, disease, suffering, and death.
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Tuskegee Syphilis Study
• The Tuskegee Syphilis Study lasted 40 years and was an
experimental study that included approximately 600 black
males, the goal of which was to examine the impact of
syphilis on humans.
• The participants were told they would receive free
treatment, however the treatment they obtained had
nothing to do with the cure for syphilis.
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Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Study
• A study was conducted to examine if the human body
could reject cancer cells, and if the inability to fight off
cancer was related to debilitation in the body.
• Researchers did not inform the subjects that they would
be injected with live cancer cells, nor did they provide
written documentation about the nature of study to
potential subjects.
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Willowbrook Study
• A study at Willowbrook school examined the effects that
the hepatitis virus had on children within a controlled
environment.
• To be admitted to the school parents would have to
consent to have the child injected with the hepatitis virus.
• This study raised questions as to the adequacy of
informed consent and the freedom of human participants.
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Belmont Report
• The Belmont Report arose in part from the legal
implications resulting from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
• Is considered to be the “cornerstone document of ethical
principles and Federal regulations for the protection of
research participants based on respect for persons,
beneficence, and justice”. (NIH, 2002, p 10).
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3 Principles of the Belmont Report
• Respect for persons. Includes 2 standards; first the
autonomy of individuals and second protection for those
with diminished capacity.
• The 1st standard suggests that individuals should be
treated as autonomous agents (NIH, 2002), human
participants’ opinions, thoughts, and choices should be
heard and respected by and never obstructed by a
researcher.
• Must provide full disclosure regarding study with no
consequences for non-participation. Ensure you do not
hinder ability to decide to participate in your study.
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Beneficence
• Beneficence is the principle of “the quality or state of
being doing or producing good” (Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary, 2005).
• In relation to participants in a research study, the Belmont
report indicates that it is the researcher’s responsibility to
ensure that the benefits of a study outweigh any risks.
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Justice
• Justice: Deals with fairness related to the question of
who bears the burden of risks and who should receive
the benefits in research?
• Risks such as participant safety, interference with life,
population and sample selection, as well as ensuring that
participants receive what they ware promised (e.g.,
benefits, specific treatment, outcomes) are all elements
of the justice principle.
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Institutional Review Boards
• To assist with ensuring respect, beneficence and justice of
human participants, the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
was created.
• Their task is to weigh the risks versus benefits, determine
how the client will be directly impacted, protections in
place for possible risks, procedures participants will
endure, and the method of informed consent.
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Additional Researcher Responsibilities
Ethical considerations researchers consider in the process
of a study or evaluation include the relationships with study
participants; collaboration with sponsors or other agencies;
confidentiality of data and data management; and the
ethical reporting of research results.
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Relationship with Research Participants
• Ethical standards exist when working with research
participants.
• Nonprofessional relationships should be avoided
between researcher and participant.
• Researchers should not sexually harass research
participants.
• When a nonprofessional interaction between researcher
and participant is unavoidable or could be beneficial, the
researcher should document a rationale for the
interaction prior to engaging in the nonprofessional
interaction.
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Collaboration with Sponsors
• Assistance from sponsors, including grant agencies,
organizations who allow data collection, or administrators
who provide resources or access to areas of an
organization or client populations should be informed
about data collection procedures, changes in
methodology and results of the study.
• The ACA ethics code states that counselors should
inform sponsors and organizations of research
procedures and outcomes and ensure appropriate
individuals have information regarding the study.
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Confidentiality and Data Management
• An important aspect of respecting participant rights is to ensure
confidentiality in the use of data after it has been collected.
• This includes removing all identifying information (e.g., participant
names, counseling dates, or other various identifying points of
information) from raw data (e.g., paper instruments or assessments,
audiotapes of interviews) and electronic databases.
• The ACA ethical codes request that researchers determine up front
how they will dispose of research documents (2005, G.2.j). This
includes destroying all instruments used to collect data by shredding
paper copies of instruments, erasing and cutting apart audio or
videotapes, or deleting electronic files.
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Reporting Results
• Reporting results of your study is important not only to
the counseling profession, other counseling professionals
and clients who seek treatment but leads to evidencebased practices that clients are expected to receive.
• Ethical concerns related to reporting results include
making sure that published results are accurate, the need
to report not only those results that are significant and
those that are not significant as well as avoiding
plagiarism or reproducing others ideas without proper
citation.
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Multicultural Competencies in Counseling
Research
• Counselor Awareness of Own Cultural Values and Biases
(Competency One)
• Counselor Awareness of Client’s World View
(Competency Two)
• Counselor Use of Appropriate Intervention Strategies
(Competency Three)
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Copyright
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