How Should an Amateur Start Practicing Psychological Experiment and/or Research?

As an amateur, venturing into the world of psychological experiments and research can be both exciting and daunting. However, it's important to proceed with caution, especially when dealing with human or animal participants. This article outlines the considerations and actions you should take to ensure your research is both ethical and well-designed.

The Reality of Restrictions

Despite the intrinsic value of psychological experiments, there are notable restrictions. Whether you are studying youth, animals, or medical issues, you cannot conduct such experiments without submitting an ethical application along with a detailed proposal and necessary forms to a local ethical approval group. These measures are in place to protect both human and non-human participants and ensure the integrity of the research.

Challenges Faced by Amateurs

Amateurs often lack the necessary experience and training to conduct psychological research effectively. This can lead to several issues:

Lack of Understanding

Without proper training, it's difficult to grasp all the aspects of conducting a psychological study, including participant recruitment, compensation, treatment of animal subjects, assignment to different conditions, control of extraneous variables, and valid measurement of outcome variables. These are crucial for yielding useful and reliable data.

Unintentional Ethical Violations

One of the primary responsibilities of psychologists is to adhere to ethical guidelines. Violations can occur unintentionally, leading to potential legal and moral consequences.

Addressing the Challenges

To overcome these challenges, amateurs should:

Training and Mentorship

The best approach is to gain training in psychology and find a research mentor. A mentor can provide guidance, evaluate your study, and ensure it adheres to ethical standards. Additionally, reading existing research related to your question can provide valuable insights and ideas.

Key Ethical Considerations

Psychologists have developed comprehensive codes of ethics to address potential ethical issues. Here are some key considerations:

Informed Consent

Researchers are required to obtain informed consent from all human participants. This involves providing detailed information about the study, potential risks, and benefits, and obtaining voluntary agreement. Detailed guidelines must be followed for informed consent forms.

Exposure to Risk and Harm

Exposure to risk or harm, whether physical or psychological, must be minimized. This includes risks of embarrassment, anxiety, and invasion of privacy. An institutional review board (IRB) evaluates the potential risks and provides approval when necessary.

Deception and Confidentiality

Researchers should not deceive participants or disclose confidential information. For online research, special technical measures are required to protect confidentiality.

For research involving non-human animals, there are detailed rules and guidelines from the #")">Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

Consequences of Non-Compliance

Failure to comply with ethical standards can have severe consequences:

Publishing Rejections

Professional journals may require ethical approval from an IRB or IACUC before publishing your results. Lack of approval can result in your work being rejected.

Lawsuits and Legal Actions

If unethical behavior is suspected, human participants can file lawsuits. Universities often provide support, but if not, individuals may face legal challenges alone. Similarly, if animal welfare is compromised, organizations like the SPCA or PETA may intervene, leading to potential confiscation of animals and legal actions.

Best Practices

The best way to start psychological research is to:

Seek Employment

Look for opportunities as a research assistant or volunteer with a research psychologist. They can guide you, handle ethics review, and help design a robust study.

Offer Data Access

Offer to provide access to data collection at your facility or organization to researchers in psychology or business schools.

In summary, while it's tempting to undertake research on your own, the risks and challenges are significant. Seeking professional guidance and adhering to ethical guidelines is essential for meaningful and ethical research in psychology.