Being Mindful of Ethics in Research for Positive Social Change

Week 11: Being Mindful of Ethics in Research for Positive Social Change

Throughout this course, you have reviewed numerous studies that contributed to the development of key theories in psychology. Some of the research might have seemed questionable to you, such as Zimbardo’s prison study, Milgram’s obedience experiment, or Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment. As a result of studies such as these, ethical guidelines were established to minimize any negative impact that study participants might experience. This week, you will learn more about the ethical guidelines that are in place to protect participants’ rights and safety. As a social change agent and psychology professional, you might be conducting your own research; think about how you would protect the safety of your participants while seeking information that could lead to positive social change. You will also submit your completed Psychology Theories Template at the end of the week.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Evaluate ethical issues related to research
• Analyze actions for positive social change
• Evaluate key concepts in theories

Learning Resources

Required Readings

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
“Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Research Participants” (pp. 21–26)

Greenaway, K. H., Cichocka, A., Veelen, R., Likki, T., & Branscombe, N. R. (2016). Feeling hopeful inspires support for social change. Political Psychology, 37(1), 89–107. doi:10.1111/pops.12225

Fisher, C. B., & Vacanti-Shova, K. (2012). The responsible conduct of psychological research: An overview of ethical principles, APA ethics code standards, and federal regulations. In S. J. Knapp, M. C. Gottlieb, M. M. Handelsman, & L. D. VandeCreek (Eds.), APA handbook of ethics in psychology, Vol. 2: Practice, teaching, and research (pp. 335–369). American Psychological Association.

Document: Psychology Theories Template (Excel Spreadsheet)

Journal of Social Change. (2017). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/jsc/
Examine the contents of the Journal of Social Change and review at least one article of interest.

Walden University. (2013). What kind of social change agent are you? Retrieved from http://impactreport.waldenu.edu/ 

Walden University. (2018). Social change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change 

Walden University. (2018). The Walden community: Scholars of change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change/scholars-of-change
At this website, review a few of the latest videos by Walden scholars of change to support your understanding of social change and the research needed to support such change.

Required Media

Walden University, LLC. (Producer) (2016). Social change research [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript