Active learning ideas
Ethics are the moral compass of psychological research. Students examine the British Psychological Society (BPS) guidelines, focusing on informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, and the right to withdraw. They also discuss the complex issue of deception and when it might be justified.
Activity 01
Students are given a proposal for a controversial study (like a modern version of Milgram). They act as an ethics committee, debating whether to approve, reject, or modify the study based on BPS guidelines.
What are the BPS ethical guidelines?
Activity 02
Display posters of famous studies like the Stanford Prison Experiment or Little Albert. Students walk around to identify which BPS guidelines were broken and suggest how the study could be made ethical today.
Why is informed consent crucial in research?
Activity 03
Students are given a scenario where telling the truth would ruin the experiment. They discuss in pairs whether deception is acceptable in this case and how they would 'debrief' the participants afterward.
How do researchers handle deception?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Ethics are just about being 'nice' to people.
Ethics are a formal set of professional standards designed to ensure the safety of participants and the integrity of the data. A collaborative task where students write a formal 'consent form' helps them see the legal and professional nature of ethics.
Once you agree to a study, you have to finish it.
The 'right to withdraw' means a participant can leave at any time, even after the study has finished, and take their data with them. Role-playing a participant who wants to leave helps students understand this fundamental right.
Methods used in this brief
Formulating Hypotheses and Variables
Students will learn how to design psychological research by formulating testable hypotheses. They will identify independent, dependent, and extraneous variables in various scenarios.
8 methodologies
Experimental Designs and Sampling
This topic introduces different experimental designs, including independent groups and repeated measures. Students will also evaluate various sampling methods used to select participants.
8 methodologies