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examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: BPS Guidelines Introduction
When psychologists conduct research with human participants, they need to make sure they're treating people properly and not causing harm. This is where ethical considerations come in. They are the moral principles and standards that guide how psychologists should behave when carrying out research.
Key Definitions:
In the past, some psychological studies caused participants distress, embarrassment or even psychological harm. For example, in the 1960s, Stanley Milgram's obedience studies involved participants believing they were giving painful electric shocks to others. While these studies provided valuable insights, they raised serious ethical concerns about how participants were treated.
The BPS is the main professional organisation for psychologists in the UK. One of its key roles is to establish ethical guidelines that all psychologists should follow when conducting research.
The BPS provides guidance on ethical practice, publishes codes of ethics and conduct and can take action against psychologists who breach these guidelines. Their aim is to ensure that psychological research benefits society while protecting the rights and wellbeing of those who take part.
All members of the BPS must follow these guidelines. This includes professional psychologists, researchers and psychology students. Even if someone isn't a BPS member, these guidelines are widely accepted as best practice in the UK for anyone conducting psychological research.
The BPS has established several key ethical principles that should guide all psychological research. Let's explore the main ones:
Researchers must provide participants with enough information about the study for them to make an informed decision about taking part. Participants must freely agree to participate without being pressured.
Researchers must keep participants' data private and secure. Personal information should not be shared with others without permission and data should be anonymised where possible.
Participants must be told they can leave the study at any time without penalty and can ask for their data to be removed even after the study is complete.
Researchers must ensure participants are not exposed to risks greater than those in everyday life. This includes physical harm, psychological distress, or social embarrassment.
Researchers should avoid deceiving participants. If deception is necessary for the study, participants must be fully debriefed afterwards and given the real purpose of the research.
After the study, researchers must explain the full purpose of the research and answer any questions. This is especially important if any deception was used.
Following ethical guidelines isn't always straightforward. Researchers often face dilemmas where different ethical principles might conflict with each other or with the goals of the research.
Sometimes, the most scientifically valuable research designs might pose ethical challenges. For example, studying the effects of stress might require causing participants some temporary discomfort. Researchers must carefully weigh the potential benefits of the research against any possible risks to participants.
When planning research, psychologists should ask themselves:
In 1971, Philip Zimbardo conducted his famous Stanford Prison Experiment, where students were randomly assigned to be "prisoners" or "guards" in a mock prison. The study had to be stopped early because participants in the guard role began to behave in cruel and dehumanising ways, while prisoners showed signs of extreme stress.
This study violated several ethical principles we now consider essential:
Today, this study would not be approved under BPS guidelines, showing how ethical standards in psychology have evolved.
The BPS guidelines place particular emphasis on protecting vulnerable participants, such as:
Research with children requires extra safeguards. Researchers need consent from parents/guardians as well as the child's assent (agreement). Methods must be age-appropriate and researchers need to be especially vigilant about potential distress.
People with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, or those in institutional settings (like prisons or care homes) may need additional protections. Researchers must ensure these participants fully understand what's involved and aren't being unduly influenced to take part.
Before any psychological research can begin, it must usually be approved by an ethics committee. These committees review research proposals to ensure they meet ethical standards.
Ethics committees typically include:
They consider factors such as:
As psychology research increasingly moves online, new ethical challenges are emerging. For example, how can researchers ensure informed consent when participants complete studies remotely? How should data be protected when stored in the cloud? The BPS regularly updates its guidelines to address these evolving challenges.
Ethical guidelines aren't just bureaucratic hurdles for researchers to overcome. They serve several important purposes:
By following the BPS ethical guidelines, psychologists can conduct valuable research while ensuring they treat participants with the respect and care they deserve. This balance between scientific progress and ethical treatment is at the heart of modern psychological research.
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