ETHICS IN RESEARCH
Before joining a psychology study, participants are told the purpose, possible risks, benefits, and that they can leave the study at any time.
Informed Consent
A participant decides to stop answering survey questions halfway through the study, and the researcher must respect that decision.
Right to Withdraw
This step of the research process involves gathering information from participants through surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments.
Collection of Data
This research approach focuses on measurable variables and numerical results rather than opinions or personal experiences.
Quantitative Research
A psychologist reviews and analyzes the results of 25 published studies on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to determine the overall effect. What research method is being used?
Meta-Analysis
A psychology experiment is redesigned to reduce stress after the ethics committee finds that the original procedures could cause unnecessary anxiety.
Protection from harm
This ethical principle ensures that people decide for themselves whether to join a research study, free from pressure, threats, or coercion.
Voluntary participation
Before conducting a study, a researcher reads books, journal articles, and previous studies to understand what is already known about the topic.
Review of Literature
A psychologist randomly assigns participants to two groups, gives one group a stress-management program and the other no program, then compares their anxiety levels to determine whether the program caused the change.
Experimental Research
This research method studies the relationship between psychological processes and bodily functions by measuring physiological responses such as heart rate, brain activity, or muscle tension.
Psychophysiological Methods
A court requests access to individual research responses, but the researcher refuses because revealing identifiable participant data would violate this ethical obligation.
Confidentiality
A clinical trial excludes qualified participants based solely on their socioeconomic status, even though the exclusion has no scientific justification. This violates which ethical principle?
Justice
A psychologist uses statistical software to determine whether there is a significant relationship between stress and academic performance. Which research step is being performed?
Data Analysis
A psychologist finds that students who report higher stress levels also tend to sleep fewer hours, but the researcher does not manipulate any variables or claim that one causes the other. What type of research is this?
Correlational Research
Instead of surveying participants directly, a researcher develops coding categories, analyzes thousands of archived newspaper articles, and quantifies recurring themes to identify patterns over time. Which research method does this describe?
Content Analysis
A research team cancels a data collection activity because it conflicts with an important cultural tradition of the community they are studying. Which ethical principle guided this decision?
Respect for the community
After realizing that a statistical error changed the study's conclusions, a researcher immediately informs the journal, corrects the data, and publishes the revised findings despite damaging their reputation. This ethical principle is being upheld.
Integrity
After analyzing the data, a psychologist compares the findings with the original hypothesis, acknowledges the study's limitations, and explains what the results mean without exaggerating them. This research step is called what?
Drawing Conclusions
A researcher compares the stress levels of nurses from two hospitals after only one hospital implements a new wellness program. Because participants were not randomly assigned to the hospitals, the study uses this research design.
Quasi-Experimental Research
Researchers develop a digital model of human decision-making and repeatedly adjust variables such as stress, time pressure, and rewards to observe predicted behavioral outcomes before conducting real-world experiments. What research method does this describe?
Computer Simulation
Researchers reject a cheaper research design because it would increase participants' emotional stress, choosing a more expensive method that minimizes risk while still achieving the study's objectives. This decision reflects which ethical principle?
Beneficence
After completing a nationwide mental health study, researchers share their findings with government agencies and community organizations to improve public mental health programs instead of limiting the results to academic journals. Which ethical principle does this best reflect?
Social responsibility
After reviewing previous studies, a researcher predicts that college students who sleep at least 8 hours per night will score significantly higher on memory tests than those who sleep less than 6 hours. Which step of the scientific method does this represent?
Making/Formulating Hypothesis
Researchers report that employees who attend a workplace wellness program have lower stress levels. However, most participants in the program also work shorter hours than nonparticipants, making it impossible to determine which factor influenced stress. This uncontrolled influence is known as what?
Confounding Variable
A psychologist measures tiny changes in sweat gland activity while participants view emotionally disturbing images. These changes are used as an indicator of emotional arousal. Which psychophysiological measure is this?
Galvanic Skin Response