6.+Truthtelling+and+Deception

Truthtelling and Deception in Research


 * How does the topic affect research proposals? **

In order to avoid unnecessary risk to research participants, researchers must be diligent in ensuring their proposals are thorough and complete surrounding deception. Since it is an ethical issue, it conflicts with informed consent and must be managed and presented in the research proposal Miller, Gluck & Wendler, 2008).

There are some cases in which deception is intentional and necessary to gain greater research validity, therefore it is possible to engage in incomplete disclosure by receiving authorization from the Institutional Review Board ( Cottrell & McKenzie, 2005 ). Researchers must state in what way incomplete disclosure is necessary, why it does not add additional risks to participants, and if/how subjects will be debriefed after the study is complete.


 * What must be considered? **

Active deception is deception by commission (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2005; Kimmel, 1998). An example of active deception is researchers purposefully mislead research participants in some aspect of the research, possibly the purpose of the study. Some people refer this as not truthtelling.

Passive deception is deception by omission (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2005; Kimmel, 1998). An example of passive deception is researcher withholding some form of information.

Critics of deception have been arguing that deception is wrong on moralistic grounds, methodological grounds, or disciplinary grounds. They claim that it's always wrong to mislead research participants, it can increase future research participant's suspiciousness, or that it will mess up the profession's reputation (Kimmel, 1998).

On the other end of the spectrum, others say that what is most ethical is not always effective which can then potentially lose some valuable findings (Kimmel, 1998).

 The National Commission states that if research involves incomplete disclosure, the research can be justified if (1) it is clear that the incomplete disclosure is necessary in order to meet goals, (2) there are no risks to subjects more than the minimal, and (3) there is an adequate plan if subjects are needed to be debriefed as well as distribution of results (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2005).

So a few things need to be considered when either participating in active or passive deception:


 * 1) Will the participant act different if full disclosure was given?
 * 2) Is deception necessary to obtain the goals and objectives of the research?
 * 3) Is there any risk to subjects not receive full disclosure and if so is it minimal?
 * 4) Is there a plan if researcher needs to debrief participants informing them of full disclosure?
 * 5) Will participants have access to the research results?


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What challenges does it represent for research around sexuality related research? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Deception can pose many problems when it comes to sexuality research. As mentioned above, misinformation can skew the results of the findings (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2005). Many sexuality researchers conduct their studies with help of surveys, inquiring about the aspect of sexuality research in question. Asking participants to confess their very personal feelings, attitudes, and beliefs about sex related issues can cause them to hesitate and, perhaps, fib to make their answer something more stereotypical to sound "better" or more "normal."

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Terri Fisher, a university psychologist who conducted a short experiment on this states, "there is something unique about sexuality that leads people to care more about matching the stereotypes for their gender" (Novotney, 2013).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Whether the deception is active or passive, it has the potential to misguide the results. This challenges the researcher to trust and remind the participants of the major importance of honesty and complete truthtelling. Without true answers for true results and findings, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to further our knowledge and understanding of human sexuality for the progress of the field.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Give one example that illustrates the issue. **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">An example of how deception is used by the participants of a sexuality study is illustrated by Terri Fisher's students. She asked about 300 students to take a survey that had 124 questions asking how often they acted upon certain behaviors, both sex related and otherwise. Fisher categorized each of the questions into "typically male" and "typically female" categories. About half of the participants answered the questions while hooked up to a machine that they were told could detect lies (the machine actually did nothing). The males who were not attached the machine stated having more sex partners than those that were attached the machine. Females who were not attached the machine reported having fewer sex partners than those attached to the machine. Fisher concluded that the students not hooked up to the machine may have been lying to fit their gender stereotypes (Novotney, 2013).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Interestingly, the answers to questions about behaviors not related to sexuality (such as lifting weights) had equally similar results from those attached to the machine and not attached to the machine (Novotney, 2013). This suggests that people are more likely to lie about more personal details, like sex-related issues.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">References

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Kimmel, A. J. (1998). In defense of deception. American Psychologist, 53(7), 803-805. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.53.7.803

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Miller, Gluck & Wendler (2008). Debriefing and accountability in deceptive research. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 18(3): 235-251.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Novotney, A. (2013). Students lie about their sex lives to match gender expectations, study suggests. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2013/09/gender-expectations.aspx

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Randall Cottrell & James McKenzie (2005). Health Promotion & Education Research Methods Using the Five-Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Model. 2nd Ed. Salisbury, MA. Jones & Bartlett.