ESSAY PLANS
Ethical implications + social sensitivity
AO1
Ethical issues arise due to conflict between needing valid research
findings + maintaining rights of participants
Socially sensitive research – psychologists have to be aware of the
consequences of the research for ppts / people the research is
saying something about
Research question – phrasing of question influences how findings
are interpreted e.g. study looking at ‘alternative relationships’ likely
to focus on homosexual ones + may overlook heterosexual ones
(Kitzinger + Coyle) – may lead to heterosexual bias
Dealing w ppts – needing informed consent, confidentiality +
dealing w psychological harm
The way findings are used – need to consider in advance whether
findings could give scientific credibility to prejudices e.g. early IQ
tests used in America during WW1 led to prejudice against Eastern
Europeans + led to lowering of immigration quota
AO3
A strength of socially sensitive research is that there can be benefits
for the people studied
As a result of the Kinsey report (1948), the DSM-1 removed
homosexuality as a personality disorder
This was a result of over 5000 interviews with men concluding that
homosexuality was a normal variant of human sexual behaviour
Shows the importance of researchers tackling sensitive topics
However, there could be negative consequences that could have
been anticipated
For example, research on the ‘criminal gene’ implied that people
cannot be responsible for offending
This suggest that when researching socially sensitive topics it’s
important to think carefully about possible outcomes and
consequences
Another strength is that policy makers rely on socially sensitive
research
The ONS collect and analyse objective statistics about the UK’s
economy, society + population
This info is needed by the government when developing social
policy relating to childcare, education, crime etc + it’s better to
base policies on scientific research rather than political views
This means that psychologists have an important role to play in
providing high quality research on socially sensitive topics
Ethical implications + social sensitivity
AO1
Ethical issues arise due to conflict between needing valid research
findings + maintaining rights of participants
Socially sensitive research – psychologists have to be aware of the
consequences of the research for ppts / people the research is
saying something about
Research question – phrasing of question influences how findings
are interpreted e.g. study looking at ‘alternative relationships’ likely
to focus on homosexual ones + may overlook heterosexual ones
(Kitzinger + Coyle) – may lead to heterosexual bias
Dealing w ppts – needing informed consent, confidentiality +
dealing w psychological harm
The way findings are used – need to consider in advance whether
findings could give scientific credibility to prejudices e.g. early IQ
tests used in America during WW1 led to prejudice against Eastern
Europeans + led to lowering of immigration quota
AO3
A strength of socially sensitive research is that there can be benefits
for the people studied
As a result of the Kinsey report (1948), the DSM-1 removed
homosexuality as a personality disorder
This was a result of over 5000 interviews with men concluding that
homosexuality was a normal variant of human sexual behaviour
Shows the importance of researchers tackling sensitive topics
However, there could be negative consequences that could have
been anticipated
For example, research on the ‘criminal gene’ implied that people
cannot be responsible for offending
This suggest that when researching socially sensitive topics it’s
important to think carefully about possible outcomes and
consequences
Another strength is that policy makers rely on socially sensitive
research
The ONS collect and analyse objective statistics about the UK’s
economy, society + population
This info is needed by the government when developing social
policy relating to childcare, education, crime etc + it’s better to
base policies on scientific research rather than political views
This means that psychologists have an important role to play in
providing high quality research on socially sensitive topics
