Comparision between bps and apa ethical guidelines 1

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION IS VERY IMPORTANT PART OF RESEARCH RELATED TO THE DIFFERENT FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY.

1. COMPARISON BETWEEN BPS AND APA ETHICAL GUIDELINES By:- Vinod K umar Gupta M.A. 3 rd Semester, 2011

2. RESEARCH :- Research is an art of scientific investigation through using different methods. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet.

3. PROCESS OF RESEARCH Find a research idea Convert the idea into a hypothesis Define and measure variables Identify participants or subjects Select a research strategy Select a research design Conduct the study Analysis of data Report the result Refine or reformulate your research idea

4. ETHICS Ethics are norms or rules for conducting that distinguishes between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. They are culturally generated and socially sustained.

5. HARMS OF AVOIDING ETHICS Can harm human and animal subjects. Can cause distress. May cause inconvenience. Waste of time. Waste of resources/funds. Disrepute or litigation.

6. BENEFITS OF ETHICAL CONSIDERATION Minimizes harm to: Participants/subjects Researcher Institution Sponsors/funding bodies Society

7. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BPS AND APA GUIDELINES BPS Principles are based on it’s latest amendment of August 2009. While APA’s principles are based on it’s latest amendment of June 2010. BPS uses the word “client” for both humans and animals with whom the psychologist interacts. Whereas, APA uses the word “participant” for humans and “subject” for animals. BPS uses the word “should”, whereas APA uses the word “must” in following the ethical guidelines.

8. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES… Principles: BPS has only four principles: Respect Competence Responsibility Integrity

9. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES... While APA has five principles: Beneficence & nonmaleficence Fidelity & responsibility Integrity Justice Respect for people’s rights and dignity

10. STANDARD In BPS, standards are described as they correspond to principles. In APA, principles and standards are defined separately. NUMBER OF STANDARDS: Totals of standards are 16 in BPS, but 10 in APA. Standard subcategories are 90 in BPS, but 89 in APA.

11. GUIDELINES FOR HUMANS In APA “Institutional Review Board” (IRB), provides guidelines for human participants. There are 10 guidelines in APA, as compared to 7 guidelines in BPS which are based on their respective principles and standards. DIFFERNCE IN TERMINOLOGY: BPS – The protection and welfare of participants. APA – No harm. BPS – Debriefing. APA – Providing participants with information.

12. GUIDELINES FOR ANIMALS In BPS, Standing Advisory Committee on the Welfare of Animals in Psychology (SACWAP) with cooperation of Experimental Psychological Society (EPS) provides guidelines for animals, while in APA it is provided by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). BPS contains Animal Act – 1986 and Animal Welfare Act – 2006, while APA has no such acts.

13. DECISION MAKING PROCESS Psychologists are likely to need to make decision in difficult, changing and unclear situations for which BPS includes systematic guide for the ethical decision making process but APA does not.

14. PRIME FOCUS In BPS, code of conduct gives primary attention to research. APA’s focus area are not limited to the research but teaching, supervision of trainees, counseling, development of assessment instrument, program design, administration, evaluation.

15. USE OF MODIFIERS BPS has no modifiers in the Ethics mode. APA uses some modifiers (e.g. reasonably, appropriate, potentially) in some of ethics code to guard against a set of rigid rules.

16. DEVELOPMENT OF CODE BPS codes are developed by considering other codes and appendices. While APA codes are self developed by a vigorous series of improvements

17. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES Guidelines on advertising the services offered by psychologists is included in BPS, e.g. ‘visiting card’ in the advertisement; name qualification; status; address; phone number and consultation hours. APA has no guidelines for psychologists.

18. THANK YOU...