Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the biological level of analysis.
Most commonly conducted research: Genetic research
Main concerns:
Caspi et al. (2003)
Longitudinal study on the possible role of the 5-HTT gene in depression after experiences of stressful events
Procedure:
researcher compared participants with normal 5-HTT and participants with a mutation of the gene (has shorter alleles)
Findings:
participants who carried a mutation of the 5-HTT gene who had experienced many stressful events were more likely to become depressed after stressful events than those participants who carried a normal 5-HTT gene
Anonymity and confidentiality:
Informed consent:
Main concerns:
- research must be careful when making conclusions because genetic research are correlational by nature
- knowledge about the role of specific genes in behavior is still limited, conclusions is often reductionist and does not include environmental factors. Researcher must be careful about making definite conclusions
- the result of the research might cause labeling, stigmatization and discrimination
Caspi et al. (2003)
Longitudinal study on the possible role of the 5-HTT gene in depression after experiences of stressful events
Procedure:
researcher compared participants with normal 5-HTT and participants with a mutation of the gene (has shorter alleles)
Findings:
participants who carried a mutation of the 5-HTT gene who had experienced many stressful events were more likely to become depressed after stressful events than those participants who carried a normal 5-HTT gene
Anonymity and confidentiality:
- participants must remain anonymous, their confidentiality must be protected. However this might be hard when it comes to family studies, twin studies and studies on rare disease
- participants have a right to know who has the genetic information and how it will be used in the future
Informed consent:
- participants have the right to be fully informed
- research into genetic influences on behavior could potentially pose risks to participants and the genetic information might be misused
- genetic research can reveal information that is unexpected or a source of distress on participants