Observing Ethical Issues in the Research Process
Observing ethical issues in the research process is crucial towards fostering the credibility of an inquiry. For this reason, agencies such as the Institutional Review Board (IRB) ensure that researchers observe the required standards of conducting research. Importantly, the IRB underlines the need for researches to observe the required ethical standards and thus, protect the rights and freedoms of subjects or participants. Additionally, the IRB focuses on mitigating fraud in research to bolster the credibility aspect of undertaking inquiries. In this respect, this paper addresses the need for researchers to understand the ethical issues in the research process.
The Role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
The IRB plays the important role of safeguarding the rights, as well as welfare of human subjects participating in research undertakings conducted under the authority of the administrative body (Wester, 2011). In this regard, the IRB ensures that researchers respect the rights and privileges of participants. For instance, agency emphasizes the need for researchers to uphold the confidentiality and privacy aspects of ethical research. In so doing, the human subjects get protected from violations that could undermine their well-being.
Ethical Issues in Watson and Rayner's Experiment
Watson and Rayner's experiments with baby Albert shows serious ethical issues. Evidently, the experiment focuses on conditioning a rat phobia in the human subject (Steen, 2011). The researchers violate the rights of baby Albert by conditioning him to develop fear not only to white rats but also other similar animals. Furthermore, the nature of the experiments exposes baby Albert to psychological harm resulting from the fear induced by the aim of the inquiry. Furthermore, the researchers used the human subject without the consent of the mother and thus, undermined the informed consent aspect of ethics in research. Moreover, the researchers did not apply further experiments that would remove the phobia from baby Albert since it was his mother who withdrew him from the hospital (Digdon, Powell, " Harris, 2014). In this concern, the researchers engaged in an array of unethical practices that violated the rights of the human subject.
The IRB's Disapproval of the Little Albert Experiment
The IRB would not have approved the Little Albert experiment since it violates various ethical requirements of conducting research. Notably, the experiment induces psychological harm to the human subject involved in the inquiry. Additionally, the IRB would have declined the approval of the research since it used a baby as human subject. Notably, it is ethically wrong to use infants as subjects in an experiment that could harm the subject significantly. Therefore, forcing a child to develop a fearful association with animals is considered unethical and thus, the research would not have seen the approval of the IRB.
Addressing Scientific Fraud in Research
Scientific fraud also forms part of unethical research undertakings. The IRB requires the researchers it oversees to comply with the standards set by the administrative agency. Therefore, after reviewing a research process, the IRB determines whether it applied fraudulent approaches or not. In the event that the IRB detects fraud, it could suspend the researchers engaging in the unethical practices. Furthermore, the IRB could disapprove fraudulent research items after conducting comprehensive reviews (Gupta, 2013). Essentially, the IRB does not support scientific fraud since it undermines the essence of undertaking ethical research.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the IRB is an agency that seeks to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects in research. The Little Albert experiment is one of the historical research undertakings that disregarded the importance of observing ethical standards in research since it induced psychological harm to the infant. Moreover, the IRB also conducts reviews that seek to mitigate scientific fraud.
References
Digdon, N., Powell, R. A., " Harris, B. (2014). Little Albert’s alleged neurological impairment: Watson, Rayner, and historical revision. History of psychology, 17(4), 312-324.
Wester, K. L. (2011). Publishing Ethical Research: A Step‐by‐Step Overview. Journal of Counseling " Development, 89(3), 301-307.
Gupta, A. (2013). Fraud and misconduct in clinical research: A concern. Perspectives in clinical research, 4(2), 144-153.
Steen, J. (2011, Dec. 12). Baby Albert Experiments. [Video File].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMnhyGozLyE.
