A review by individuals unfamiliar with the research. Consists of reviewing the research trial design, the proposed participant selection, and it's risk-benefit ratio.

Independent Review Boards

To justify exposing participants to risks, there is an expectation that the results lead to an improvement in health, well-being, or an increase in knowledge. This requirement protects participants from being exposed to unjustified risks. It also ensures that funds are being used responsibly. 


Social/Scientific Value

Cedarville University

Research involves significant ethical considerations, as participants have rights and investigators have responsibilities towards them. The American Psychological Association published an updated set of ethical standards in 2002. However, these guidelines were not always applied in the past, and historical studies often involved major ethical violations that prompted the development of modern standards.

Research and Ethics

The inclusion of individuals with disabilities in research is a debated topic lacking protocol. 

Disability Studies Research Ethics

Read the following research proposal. Based on general ethical principles for psychological research, identify and evaluate the most significant ethical problem with this study's methodology. Justify your evaluation.

Ethical Evaluation of a Research Proposal

One of the earliest ethics codes, the Nuremberg Code is a set of 10 principles established in 1947 in conjunction with the trials of Nazi physicians accused of cruel research on concentration camp prisoners during World War II. It provided a standard to evaluate the behavior of the men on trial and was particularly clear about the critical importance of carefully weighing risks against benefits and the necessity of obtaining informed consent from participants.

Nuremberg Code

The Tuskegee syphilis study, conducted by the US Public Health Service from 1932 to 1972, is a tragic historical example of extreme injustice in scientific research. The study involved poor African American men in Alabama who were misled into believing they were receiving treatment for 'bad blood' while actually being observed for the untreated progression of syphilis. The researchers deliberately denied the men treatment even after penicillin became the standard cure, clearly violating the ethical mandate to treat participants fairly and highlighting the urgent need to protect marginalized groups from disproportionate research risks. The profound betrayal of these men was formally acknowledged in 1997 when President Bill Clinton issued a public apology on behalf of the US government, emphasizing how the participants had been exploited without their knowledge or consent.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

In the $${}1940$$s, U.S. government researchers intentionally exposed over $${}1300$$ uninformed human subjects in Guatemala to sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis and gonorrhea, to evaluate the efficacy of penicillin and other antibiotics. The subjects included vulnerable individuals such as prisoners, psychiatric patients, prostitutes, and soldiers. By $${}1953$$, $${}83$$ subjects had died likely as a result of the study, and many were never adequately treated. This experiment is a horrific historical example of research that violated basic ethical standards.

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