What is the general ethical principle regarding deception in social research?
The key over-arching principle in research ethics as it is discussed in the Tri-council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS) is respect for human dignity, of which an important component is respect for free and informed consent; that individuals should be in a position to make a genuinely free and informed choice as to whether or not to participate in a research study. Show In some research studies, however, disclosing full information at time of consent or at all, may introduce bias, nullify validity of results, or prevent the research from taking place. For these reasons, deception is sometimes required. Deception with debriefingSome types of research might entail less than full disclosure at the outset, but not involve actively deceiving participants with misleading information. For instance, a researcher might truthfully explain to a participant the general topic of the research, but not be able to explain the specific focus of the study at the outset, at risk of altering the phenomenon in question. Less than full disclosure at the outset should, in general, be easily handled by providing participants with a full explanation at the end of the study, in the form of a verbal or written debriefing, followed by re-consent. Issues that may need to be addressed through the debriefing include the following.
To manage such issues, researchers should abide by the following guidelines, as suggested by the TCPS.
Some additional points for researchers to consider are the following.
If active deception is properly thought through and properly handled, it is not inherently unethical; participants who have been properly debriefed should be unlikely to find fault with the study, or to wish to withdraw from it. If participants do have concerns, however, they should be in a position to contact the Research Ethics Board (REB), and the researcher should work with the REB to address any issues. Deception without debriefingCertain types of research require striking a particularly delicate balance among contrasting needs for free and informed consent, accuracy and objectivity, and distance and criticality. Deception in the context of not revealing the researcher’s perspective or full intention should not be understood as an exception to the general principle of respect for free and informed consent; nor, however, should it restrict a researcher from conducting legitimate critical inquiry, provided that the researcher meets all of the requirements of TCPS Article 3.7A and B. Such issues should be carefully articulated in a protocol, and carefully navigated and negotiated in the field. Other types, such as the audit methodology, may require that participants are never informed that they are actually involved in research at all. Such methods may be appropriate only in highly circumscribed scenarios, such as those in which privacy is not a legitimate expectation because the research is focused on public or commercial acts. In situations where the researcher does not plan on debriefing participants and/or intends to not inform prospective participants that they are in a study at all, s/he must justify and the REB consider why this proposal is appropriate from potential harm and research feasibility perspectives. Researchers should provide a plan to disseminate information about the study to participants and their communities, if possible. What is ethical behavior regarding the use of deception in social research?Deception can only be used if it is necessary for a specific research purpose, only to the minimal degree required for that purpose, and subjects should give informed consent before participating and be debriefed immediately afterwards.
Is deception an ethical principle?Investigators may mislead or omit information about the purpose of the research, the role of the researcher, or what procedures in the study are actually experimental. Deception increases ethical concerns because it interferes with the ability of the subject to give informed consent.
What are the basic principles of ethical social research?Research should be worthwhile and provide value that outweighs any risk or harm. Researchers should aim to maximise the benefit of the research and minimise potential risk of harm to participants and researchers. All potential risk and harm should be mitigated by robust precautions.
What is the main rule of deception in research methodology?Deception in psychological research is often stated as acceptable only when all of the following conditions are met: 1) no other nondeceptive method exists to study the phenomenon of interest; 2) the study makes significant contributions to scientific knowledge; 3) the deception is not expected to cause significant ...
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