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Case Study

Based on the structured Ethical Research Framework, explain why the researcher's ethical evaluation is incomplete. What elements are missing, and how must the researcher modify the evaluation to achieve a comprehensive assessment?

Case context: A psychology researcher is planning an observational study on children's play behavior. When performing the ethical evaluation of the project, the researcher carefully documents how the four foundational moral principles apply to the children participating in the study. However, the researcher does not consider any other groups of people, stating that the ethical review is complete since the participants' rights and welfare have been fully addressed.

Question: Based on the structured Ethical Research Framework, explain why the researcher's ethical evaluation is incomplete. What elements are missing, and how must the researcher modify the evaluation to achieve a comprehensive assessment?

Sample answer: The researcher's evaluation is incomplete because the Ethical Research Framework requires considering how the four moral principles apply to all three groups of people impacted by the scientific endeavor. By focusing only on the participants, the researcher has omitted the other two affected stakeholder groups. To achieve a comprehensive ethical assessment, the researcher must systematically evaluate the intersection of all four moral principles with all three affected groups.

Key points:

  • The current review is incomplete because it only addresses one affected group (the participants).
  • The Ethical Research Framework requires considering all stakeholders impacted by the research.
  • There are three specific groups of people affected by the scientific endeavor that must be considered.
  • A comprehensive review requires evaluating how all four moral principles intersect with all three affected groups.

Rubric: The response must explain that the evaluation is incomplete because it only applies the moral principles to the participants. It must state that the framework involves three groups of people impacted by the research, and that a comprehensive assessment requires examining the intersection of the four moral principles with all three groups.

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Updated 2026-05-26

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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