Question

First, read Chapter 2 in your textbook about ways to study people in personality psychology. Also read Section 1.16 of Chapter 1 of the APA manual, on planning for ethical compliance. Review also the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, specifically the section entitled General Principles, which covers ethical guidelines for conducting psychological research.

As you read, keep in mind an example of each type of research design based on the track and topic you have chosen for your final project.

In your initial post, present your own hypothetical research design to your classmates. Be sure to address the following in your post: What ethical concerns related to your research design have you identified? Further, how does your research design take into consideration what you learned about reliability and validity? Cite examples from the module readings to support your answers.

Answer 1

A hypothetical research design would include the study of 60 people across various personality types. Each individual would be observed for behavioral patterns and personal choices. The tests would include assessing each individual for social interaction levels, career choices, personal choices(taste of music, books, media etc) and temperance amidst different circumstances. By evaluating each of these in objective terms, a fairly good idea of one's personality can be obtained.

The major ethical concerns regarding such a situation are an individual's privacy and consent to be subjected to such research. Many individuals would be aversed to disclosing so much personal information about them and would not consent to be subjected to certain situational experiments.

Such experimental designs can be ambiguous when it comes to reliability and validity as the individuals might not always provide accurate information and may show pretentious personality traits when learning the fact that they're observed in an experimental setup.