Eduqas A Level Psychology
Eduqas A Level Psychology Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community Exam Questions
Free Eduqas A Level Psychology revision for Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community: what you need to know, common mistakes and exam-style questions with answers. Covers confidentiality, deception, harm, valid consent, vulnerable participants, animals, ethics committees, peer review and research report format.
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About Eduqas A Level Psychology Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community
This Component 2 topic covers the ethical principles that guide psychological research and how the scientific community checks new knowledge. You need the ethical issues named in the specification, from deception and valid consent to working with children and animals, plus how ethical risk is managed through ethics committees and guidelines such as the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct. You also need the purpose and process of peer review and the standard sections of a research report. Examiners ask you to identify ethical issues in a novel study, suggest how to deal with them, and explain why peer review matters.
What you need to know
- Confidentiality and privacy Personal data must be kept secure and participants should not be identifiable, for example by using numbers or initials instead of names.
- Deception Withholding or misleading participants about the aim. It may be acceptable if necessary, approved and followed by a full debrief that reveals the true aim.
- Risk of harm Participants should not be exposed to more stress, anxiety, humiliation or pain than in everyday life, and risks to their values, beliefs, relationships, status or privacy must be considered.
- Valid consent and vulnerable individuals Participants should understand what they are agreeing to and know they can withdraw. Children under 16 need parental consent as well as their own agreement, and other vulnerable groups need extra protection.
- Managing ethical risk Ethics committees review proposals using a cost-benefit analysis and guidelines such as the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct. Animal research follows guidelines that require minimising suffering and numbers.
- Peer review and reporting Before publication, independent experts check a study's methods, analysis and conclusions. Reports follow a standard format: abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion and references.
Common mistakes in Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community
- Saying deception is never allowed. It can be justified if there is no alternative, the risk is low, an ethics committee approves and a full debrief follows.
- Treating debriefing as a way to obtain consent. Debriefing happens after the study and cannot replace valid consent given beforehand.
- Listing ethical issues without linking them to the scenario. Explain how the specific procedure creates the issue and how to deal with it.
- Describing peer review as checking spelling and grammar. It evaluates the validity, methods and importance of research before publication.
- Putting results interpretation in the results section. The discussion section interprets findings and relates them to previous research.
Try three Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community exam-style questions
1. Identify two ethical issues in a study where students are told a test is easy when it is actually unsolvable, to measure frustration. (2 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Deception about the nature of the test; risk of stress or humiliation from failing.
2. Explain how a researcher could deal with one ethical issue when studying children. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Valid consent: obtain informed consent from parents or guardians and agreement from the child; explain clearly what is involved in age-appropriate language; remind the child they can stop at any time.
3. Explain the role of peer review in psychology. (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Independent experts in the field evaluate a study before publication; they check the methods, analysis and conclusions are valid; this prevents flawed or fraudulent research being published; it maintains the credibility of psychology, although reviewers may be biased against findings that challenge existing theories.
Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community FAQs
What does Eduqas A Level Psychology Ethics and the Role of the Scientific Community cover?
The ethical issues in psychological research, how ethical risk is managed, peer review, and the sections of a research report.
Which paper is this examined in?
It is examined in Component 2, Psychology: Investigating Behaviour, a 2 hour 15 minute written paper worth one third of the A level.
How should I answer ethics questions on a novel scenario?
Identify a specific issue in the procedure, explain why it is a problem for those participants, and give a realistic way to deal with it, such as debriefing or parental consent.
