Key Terms in Ethics and Research Methods

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Institutional Review Board (IRB)

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A group that reviews studies involving human participants to ensure safety and ethical standards, comply with regulations, and protect the participants. Example: Before a study on sleep deprivation begins, the IRB checks if the study protects participants’ health.

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American Psychological Association (APA)

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The main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with guidelines for ethical conduct when using animals in research, including minimizing discomfort, justification, alternatives, number of animals, and adaptation periods before and after.

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Informed Consent

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Participants must be told what the study involves and agree willingly. Example: A researcher studying memory tells participants they will be asked to memorize words, and participants sign a consent form.

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Informed Assent

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Process that allows minors to agree to participate in research studies or clinical trials. Assent is for people who are too young to give informed consent but are old enough to understand the general idea of what they're agreeing to. Example: A 12-year-old agrees to take part in a study on study habits after a researcher explains it in simple terms.

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Protection from Harm & Discomfort

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An ethical principle ensuring participants are not subjected to physical, mental, or emotional harm during a study. The risk of harm should be no greater than what participants would normally encounter in their everyday lives. Example: A stress test cannot expose participants to trauma-level stress.

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Confidentiality

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Personal information must be protected and anonymized. Researchers must protect participants' identifying information and responses, and only share them with those involved in the study. Example: Researchers replace names with ID numbers when storing data.

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Debriefing

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Sharing information with participants after their involvement in a study is complete. Especially important when experimenters use deception. Example: After a lie-detection experiment, participants are told that one researcher was pretending to be a suspect.

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Deception

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Intentionally misleading participants to avoid bias. Used in psychology to achieve authentic reactions and feedback from participants. Example: Participants are told they are testing “memory,” but the real test measures stress response.

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Confederates

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Actors who pretend to be participants but are part of the research team. Used in studies where multiple individuals or other types of human interactions are needed. Example: In a group conformity study, confederates give wrong answers to see if the real participant follows.

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Descriptive Statistics

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Analyzes data to help describe, show or summarize it in a meaningful way. Summarize data using numbers and graphs. Example: A teacher reports the average test score and makes a bar chart.