Dear Ms. Best,
I am please to offer my assistance in the ethical issue of your research project.
The investigation into ascertaining whether or not businesses have racist hiring
practices is a delicate one that must be handled carefully and with the utmost
care to all participants involved in keeping with the Principles and Code of
Conduct of the APA. b It is our duty to minimize harm and maximize benefits in
keeping with Principle C: Integrity and Code of Conduct 8.02 Informed Consent to
Research (APA, 2016).
The best solution is the first solution of notifying participants that behaviors
would be observed, but not being specific about what they would be is the best
for minimizing the harm to participants. Also, the benefits to your research would
be maximized in accordance with Code of Conduct 3.04 Avoiding Harm (APA,
2016). The Code of Conduct 8.07 Deception in Research, (APA,2016) could be
used to justify research participants only being told part of what the study is
about but not completely dispensing with consent. There is the risk of legal or
financial harm to the participants if the conclusions from the data prove there are
inappropriate hiring practices so obtaining consent would give them the
opportunity not to participate in the research study. Thank you for informing me
of your current plan to carry out your desired research. In reagards to the advice
that you asked for, racist hiring practices is a serious offense in which I agree
that deception in research might be your only alternative. In references to your
two options, I feel as though during the debriefing, the deception would be
explained according to 8.07 deception in research (APA, 2017). During the
debriefing participants are then given a chance to withdraw their data from the
research. This is also the time that the researchers can address any
misconceptions that could of formed as a result of the deception being revealed.
I agree with the deception and your debriefing of the participants. Principle E:
Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity (APA, 2017) states that psychologist
respect cultural, race, religion…and it ends stating that we do not condone the
prejudices of others that is based on these things. Researching issues such as
this brings a light to such a practice and as a result a better chance of ending it.
To not research it would be to condone it, and as a result allowing harm to be
done to those that are being deceived. I hope this letter helps and that you are
successful in your current and future endeavors. Firstly, I would like to commend
you on your ethical duties and responsibilities in reporting this incident promptly
when witnessed. Additionally, I commend your attention to detail outlining the
specific facts of the incident and when the incident took place.
In reviewing your recommendations based on the APA Ethical Code, I would
strongly agree that you seek to terminate your research project a week early and
conduct your debriefing as timely as possible. In accordance with the APA Ethical
Code, 8.08 Debriefing, steps must be taken to minimize harm as soon as harm to
a participant as part of the study is observed (APA, 2017). In conducting your
debriefing, please ensure to include an additional report to attach with your
findings outlining this incident and we will forward this ethical case to the
organization to initiate an ethical inquiry into this matter.
At the forefront of our research, the safety and well-being of our participants is
paramount and we must do what we can to ensure that if harm is observed, it
can be minimized. Please schedule some time for us to debrief as well so we can
ensure termination of the research project is outlined in the limitations to the
research proposal.
