Research Ethics and Guidelines

Start with the guidelines

Begin with the mind map Psychology: Ethical Issues for an overview of confidentiality, debriefing, withdrawal and the protection of participants. It also lists deception and the use of children. Use the branches to identify the terms you want to look at more closely.

Next, open one of the mind maps titled Ethical Guidelines. One covers the right to withdraw, debriefing, informed consent and confidentiality. Another also lists researcher competence and not deceiving participants. Compare their branches with your first map and note where they overlap.

Practice with flashcards and a quiz

The ethics in psychology flashcards cover voluntary participation, informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, protection from harm and debriefing. After studying a map, use the cards to go back over those terms. Return to the map when you want to see how a term sits alongside the other guidelines.

Then try the quiz Ethical Issues. Use it alongside a mind map: take the quiz, look again at the relevant branches, and return to any terms you want to study further. The page also lists a quiz called Animal research and a mind map on ethical issues of using non-humans.

Consider studies and ethical costs

Science vs. Ethics brings scientific benefits and ethical costs together with Milgram's obedience study and Zimbardo's prison study. You can use it after the guidelines maps to consider those issues alongside examples of research.

This topic is one section of Research Methods and Ethics in Psychology. The resources here give you ways to study ethical issues within that unit, from short flashcards to maps that connect several ideas. Choose a resource and explore it at your own pace.