Recommendations
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A. Beneficence and Non-Harmfulness: Research is aimed at developing knowledge through interventions that cannot cause physical or moral harm to participants.
B. Loyalty and responsibility: Researchers build trusting relationships with their partners and take personal responsibility for their choices.
C. Integrity: The duty of honesty is essential in respecting the work of others and in maintaining high professional skills.
D. Justice: Researchers are careful not to introduce inequalities or discrimination into their practices.
E. Respect for the rights and dignity of individuals: Researchers shall seek the free and informed consent of participants in implemented interventions, and shall respect confidentiality and privacy.
SPECIFIC ETHIC PRINCIPLES (see the page of useful links, and in particular section 8 of the A.P.A. Code and the SFP Code of Conduct)
- Request for institutional approval: researchers undertake to respect ethical principles by submitting their project to the body set up by the institution and undertake not to substantially modify this project during its implementation.
- Exemptions: studies using elements available in the public domain, post-analysis of archived data and tests carried out in the context of an educational process do not require a formal request for approval.
- Respect for anonymity - Participants' agreement to the use of audio or video recordings and their image
- The total or partial concealment of elements of the study must be justified on scientific grounds and by the absence of alternatives; it must be explained a posteriori to participants who retain the right to request the erasure of data.
- Post-clearance feedback (debriefing): the right of participants to receive understandable information on the results of the study (and compensation for any damage).
Resources :
KIMMEL, A.J. (1996). Ethical issues in behavioral research: a survey. Oxford: Blackwell (BPSP rating: BF76.5-K 498)
List of recommendations based on the recommendations of the American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
When considering a research project involving experimentation(s) on the human person, researchers in the human sciences, particularly in psychology, must be attentive to different elements and must take certain steps about them.
They must submit their project for review by an Ethics Committee.
Experiments on the human person must be submitted, as the case may be, to a Medical Ethics Committee or to the Ethics Committee of the Institute for Research in Psychological Sciences (IPSY). The distinction is essentially based on the application or not of the law of 7 May 2004 on experiments on the human person (M.B., 18 May 2004).
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They must ensure that they are covered by civil liability insurance.
The Catholic University of Louvain has contracted a Civil Liability Insurance which covers, in many cases, the activity of IPSY researchers.
However, there are situations in which this is not the case, and it is therefore necessary for the researcher to take out additional insurance.
For more information, see the note on UCL Third Party Liability Insurance coverage for IPSY researchers
They must comply with an obligation to respect privacy in the processing of data.
A number of rules and procedures must be followed in research that collects and analyses data to identify the persons who provided them.
For a general overview of these rules and procedures, see the note on the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data.
Author(s) of publications
Recommendations concerning the identification of the authors of a publication
Whether or not to be able to sign the publication of a work to which one has contributed, and the order of the authors of this publication, are the main sources of conflict between collaborators. To prevent these conflicts or assist in their resolution, the Ethics Commission proposes the attached guidelines.
List of recommendations based on the recommendations of the American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
Ethical recommendations concerning the remuneration of participation to research in psychology
Voluntary participation in psychological research can be rewarded in a variety of ways:
- Simple thanks; the generosity of the participants who give a little of their time to the research, with the feeling of having been useful to society, is called for.
- Thanks in material form: a small sum of money, a voucher, a lottery ticket, a treat if it is a child,...
- Financial compensation for expenses incurred: travel, parking
- For psychology students, course credits
- A free service: consultation, test result
The value of these incentives varies according to people's motivations, depending on their social affiliation. The researcher should therefore be aware that the choice of one or the other method of remuneration will influence the structure of his sample, which is never perfectly representative of the population, since volunteers are used and participation in research by drawing lots is excluded.
Apart from these methodological considerations, the question of compensation has been widely discussed at the ethical level. The recommendations made in this regard concern the respect of fundamental principles:
- Free and informed consent. Research ethics codes prohibit excessive and inappropriate incentives. When researchers offer a sum of money, they often take as a reference the remuneration of unskilled work (student job, household work, participation in a survey or consumer test), in the order of 10 euros per hour. Offering much more, especially to low-income participants, would affect their freedom to freely consent to experimentation.
- Justice: the proposed incentives, if not thoughtful, can lead to inequalities between the partners concerned.
- Between researchers: Since time available for participation in a study is a valuable commodity, researchers with large budgets could benefit more than those with more limited resources.
- Among the participants: if students who participate in an experiment are given test points, they are favoured over those who do not have this opportunity; moreover, it is a diversion of the meaning of evaluation, which concerns the acquisition of knowledge and know-how. NB: Credits granted for practical work are not subject to this criticism: all students have the same opportunities to participate and the objective of the measure is to familiarize psychology students with the experimental approach.
- Between professionals: granting a free service could constitute unfair competition towards psychologists who have to be paid. This is not the case if the service provided, of an experimental nature, does not yet exist in current practices.
- Respect for privacy: some forms of compensation require the lifting of anonymity. Researchers should draw the attention of participants to this aspect.
Most of the literature deals with the question of whether to pay participants for research in biomedical ethics (see attached note). However, debates on this subject can, mutatis mutandis, usefully guide the thinking of psychological researchers.
List of recommendations based on the recommendations of the American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
LPSP1210 Research Methods: Practical Work
The course "LPSP1210 Research Methods" includes a section on practical work in quantitative research in psychology. We want to familiarize students with the different types of quantitative research in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and the different methods used. The student must participate in different experiences during the year (between September and May). We encourage faculty members to offer experiences for students.
It is essential that the experimenters respect the TP pool charter so that we can ensure that the course objectives are achieved. If you want to know more, send a message to Professor Martin Edwards.
To be signed and sent electronically to Martin Edwards martin.edwards@uclouvain.be
Ethical recommendations for research conducted via the Internet
The use of the Internet for online surveys or experiments facilitates the recruitment of participants but poses challenges in terms of compliance with ethical rules. Psychological researchers have reflected on these questions and from this literature, the Commission proposes the attached guidelines.