Ethics and Consent Forms

One of the tasks i set out for myself in My Inquiry plan was to read through the Code of Human Research Ethics on 'The British Psychological Society' website. Doing this has really helped me to get all the permission i need and to get underway with my interviews and questionnaires whilst ensuring the safety of everyone involved.

Reading through the Code of Human Research Ethics on  ‘The British Psychological Society’ website has really opened by eyes in how I should approach ethics during my inquiry. I had thought about this in my plan and laid out how I would include ethics, however now I am about to begin my Inquiry I have delved deeper into this subject.

I am about to begin commencing my interviews with my participates and I realized that, ‘Good psychological research is only possible if there is mutual respect and trust between investigator and participants’ (P.4 The British psychological society, 2010)

I knew that I would have to create a consent form for my participates to sign however reading though the guidelines on The BPS website it made me realize that I need to be very clear that the safety of my participates is my main concern.

‘In accordance with the Code of Ethics and conduct, researches should ensure that every person whom data are gathered for the purpose of research consents freely to the process on the basis of adequate information’ (p15 The British psychological society, 2010)

This made me realize that I will have to make it clear to the participate and the article gave me guidelines to do this via my consent forms. I made sure I included these following points:

·      2 copies of the consent form should be signed by researcher and the consenting participant.

·      Contact details left if they have any queries

·      They are aware they can pull out of the inquiry at any time

·      They are aware of the time scale of the project

·      They understand what the inquiry aims to do and how they will be participating

·      Make them feel safe and comfortable and aware that their safety is my main concern.

·      Method of collecting data

·      Confidentially and anoylamity conditions

‘This is because subject to requirements and legislation, including the data protection act, information obtained from and about a particpatant during an investigation s confidential unless otherwise agreed in advance’ (p 22 The British psychological society, 2010)

This also made me realize I will have to assess all possible risks, ‘ Risk can be defined as the potential physical or psychological harm, discomfort or stress to human participates that a research project may generate’ (p 13 The British psychological society, 2010)

As my inquiry is a sensitive topic I will have to use my instinct and be in tune with how my participates are feeling as I do not want to cause anxiety, psychological stress or humiliation. ‘Sensitivity is therefore essential and caution is usually necessary’ (page 12 The British psychological society, 2010) this is because it may cause them to remember and discuss painful memories or moments, which are fragile, to them as well as happy memories.

The BPS article outlined 4 main principles, which have been really helpful when considering Ethics for my Inquiry. I have displayed some quotes that stood out to me:

1.     Respect for the Autonomy and dignity of persons

‘…Rights to privacy, self-determination, personal liberty and natural justice are of particular importance to psychologists’ (P 8 The British psychological society, 2010)

‘Valid consent, confidentially, anonymity, fair treatment’ (P 8 The British psychological society, 2010)

2.     Scientific Value

‘Psychologists are committed to ensuring that the scientific and scholarly standards of their research are accountable and of sufficiently high quality and robustness’ (p 9 The British psychological society, 2010)

3. Social responsibility

‘Psychological knowledge must be generated and used for beneficial purposes’ (page10 The British psychological society, 2010)

‘In whatever social context they work, psychologists should acknowledge the evolution of social structures in relation to societal need and be respectful of such structures. (Page10 The British psychological society, 2010)

This point made me realize that during my Inquiry I need to be ‘Self-reflective and be open to challenges that question the contributions of psychological knowledge to society’ (page 10 The British psychological society, 2010)

4.     Maximizing Benefit and minimizing Harm.

‘Harm to research participates must be avoided’ (page 11 The British psychological society, 2010)

The last principle stood out to me as this is mainly what I wish to achieve with my Inquiry and with it being a sensitive subject I will have to be considerate of the feelings and wellbeing of my participates.

‘Psychologists need to be sensitivities to the potential impact of their interventions for example to the possibility of individual distress that may be caused unwittingly’

I will debrief my participates afterwards. Making sure I don’t tell them what to do, sharing my findings and results and discussing them with my participates.

I have produced a questionnaire that I have produced and published on survey monkey. I made sure I explained why I was carrying out the survey and again that all the answers will remain confidential and participates who complete the questionnaire will remain anoylamous. Without making people feel at ease people will be less likely to want to take part.

Bibliography

http://www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/code_of_human_research_ethics.pdf  (accessed 20/8/2014)