A health psychologist plans to conduct a study into alcohol use with adolescents in a country where the legal drinking age is 18.She plans to collect a sample of around 40 people under the age of 18 (20 male and 20 female)from a local youth organization and conduct face-to-face interviews and administer questionnaires that measure alcohol consumption, personality, and well-being and she also plans to secretly observe whether the young people accept alcoholic drinks at the end-of-year function organized by the youth organization.Which of the following statements is true?
A)Whether or not it is unethical to provide alcoholic drinks in research depends on the application of ethical values (such as benefit from the research and the potential to harm).
B)It is unethical to provide alcoholic drinks in research to anybody.
C)This is not a matter of ethics it is just a matter of obeying the law.
D)Psychologists are allowed to break the law if the ethics committee tells them they can as science needs to sit outside society.
E)It does not matter whether it is ethical or not to provide alcoholic drinks in research because the function was organized by the youth group.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Whether or not it is ethical to provide alcoholic drinks in research depends on the application of ethical values, such as the potential benefits of the research and the potential harm. In this particular study, providing alcoholic drinks at the end-of-year function organized by the youth organization may raise concerns about the potential harm to the participants. However, the researcher should consider the potential benefits of observing whether the young people accept alcoholic drinks and weigh this against any potential harm. It is important for the researcher to obtain ethical approval from an ethics committee before conducting the study.

A Health Psychologist Plans to Conduct a Study into Alcohol