Science for Everybody

Mark value: 2 marks
AO focus: AO1

Bullet-point answer points
• Participants receive enough relevant information about the study.
• They voluntarily agree to participate on the basis of that information.

Full model answer
Informed consent means that a participant voluntarily agrees to take part after receiving enough relevant information about the research to make an informed decision.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Do not define consent simply as agreeing to take part. The word informed matters. The participant must have enough relevant information and must make a voluntary choice.

Mark value: 3 marks
AO focus: AO1

Bullet-point answer points
• Provide a full debrief after participation.
• Explain the true aim.
• Identify what researchers withheld or misrepresented.
• Answer participants’ questions.
• Allow appropriate withdrawal of data.

Full model answer
A researcher can deal with deception by fully debriefing participants after the study. The researcher should explain the true aim and the nature of the deception. Participants should also have an opportunity to ask questions and withdraw their data if appropriate.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Do not simply state “debrief the participants”. Explain what the debrief should contain and how it addresses the deception.

Mark value: 4 marks
AO focus: AO1 and AO2

Bullet-point answer points
• Privacy is a significant issue.
• Students would reasonably expect counselling sessions to remain private.
• Lack of informed consent is also relevant.
• The researcher could obtain informed consent before recording.
• Alternatively, the researcher could redesign the study.
• Researchers should anonymise and securely store collected data.

Full model answer
One ethical issue is privacy. A one-to-one counselling session is a setting in which students would reasonably expect their behaviour to remain private. Secretly recording them would therefore invade their privacy. The researcher should obtain informed consent before recording or redesign the study so that researchers collect information in a way that respects the students’ reasonable expectation of privacy.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Apply the ethical issue directly to the counselling scenario. A generic definition of privacy without explaining why counselling creates a reasonable expectation of privacy will gain less credit.

Mark value: 4 marks
AO focus: AO1

Bullet-point answer points
• Privacy concerns control over access to a person, their behaviour or personal information.
• Confidentiality concerns how information is handled after researchers collect it.
• Both protect participant dignity and personal information.
• Researchers can respect one while breaching the other.
• Therefore, the terms are related but not interchangeable.

Full model answer
Privacy concerns whether researchers have the right to observe a person or access their personal information in a particular context. Confidentiality concerns what happens after researchers collect information and whether they store and report it so that participants cannot be identified. Both protect participant dignity, but they are different. For example, a researcher could invade someone’s privacy even if all the resulting data were later kept confidential.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Do not use privacy and confidentiality as synonyms. A strong comparison identifies a clear difference and explains how the two concepts relate.

Mark value: 6 marks
AO focus: AO1 and AO2

Bullet-point answer points
• Warn participants clearly about sensitive content before consent.
• Allow participants to skip questions or withdraw.
• Provide debriefing and details of appropriate support.
• Avoid collecting unnecessary identifying information.
• Use participant codes rather than names.
• Store data securely.
• Remove combinations of information that could identify individuals.
• Make withdrawal procedures particularly clear because the researcher is not physically present.

Full model answer
First, the psychologist should protect participants from harm by warning them that the questionnaire contains sensitive questions about traumatic experiences. Participants should be able to skip questions or withdraw without penalty. The final page should also provide a debrief and details of suitable support services. Second, the psychologist should protect confidentiality. The researcher should avoid collecting identifying information unless it is genuinely necessary, replace names with participant codes and store data securely. Details such as workplace and town may also need to be removed because combining them could allow someone to identify an individual participant.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Choose two distinct safeguards and apply both directly to the scenario. Do not simply name ethical principles without explaining what the researcher should actually do.

Mark value: 12 marks
AO focus: AO1 and AO3

Bullet-point answer points
• Informed consent requires sufficient information and voluntary participation.
• Participants should understand their right to withdraw.
• Deception involves misleading participants or withholding information.
• Limited deception may protect validity but requires strong justification.
• Researchers should minimise physical and psychological harm.
• Privacy concerns whether researchers should access behaviour or information.
• Confidentiality concerns protecting collected information.
• Ethics committees can review proposed research.
• Risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis can identify problems before data collection.
• Debriefing, anonymisation and support can reduce ethical risks.
• Fully informed consent can create demand characteristics and reduce internal validity.
• Debriefing cannot necessarily reverse harm that has already occurred.
• Ethical judgements can vary culturally and change over time.
• Strong safeguards protect participants and enhance trust in psychological science.

Full model answer
Psychological research can create ethical conflicts because researchers want valid information while participants have rights to autonomy, dignity and safety. One issue is informed consent. Participants should normally receive enough relevant information to make a voluntary decision about taking part and should understand their right to withdraw. However, revealing the exact aim can create demand characteristics and reduce internal validity. Researchers may therefore use partial disclosure or, in carefully justified circumstances, alternatives such as presumptive or retrospective consent.

Deception is another issue. Researchers may mislead participants about the true aim or procedure so that their behaviour remains natural. However, deception limits informed consent and may cause distress or embarrassment. Researchers should therefore use it only when necessary, when risk remains low and when the research has sufficient value. Afterwards, a full debrief should explain the deception and participants should receive an appropriate opportunity to withdraw their data.

Researchers must also provide protection from harm. Risk assessments, monitoring distress, stopping procedures when necessary and providing support can reduce physical and psychological risks. Privacy concerns whether researchers have the right to observe people or access information about them. In contrast, confidentiality concerns what happens to information after researchers collect it. Participant codes, pseudonyms, secure storage and careful reporting can help protect confidentiality.

Ethical guidelines have important strengths because they protect participants and maintain public trust in psychology. They can also increase scientific credibility because researchers must justify and document their procedures. However, ethical safeguards can conflict with methodological validity. Fully informed consent or overt observation may alter behaviour, while a debrief cannot always undo distress that has already occurred. Ethical decisions can also vary across cultures and change over time, particularly as online research creates new privacy risks. Therefore, strong ethical research involves proportionate judgement: researchers should minimise risks, justify any remaining ethical costs and use independent review where appropriate.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Do not produce only a list of ethical definitions. A strong extended answer explains several issues, describes practical ways of dealing with them and evaluates the conflict between participant protection and scientific validity.