Describe the ethical guidelines of 'right to withdraw' and 'deception' in research with human participants, using any examples.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [6] 4 marks max per guideline for definition and detail
2. 1 mark for each example that is linked to a guideline, up to a maximum of 2 per guideline.
3. Examples can include examples from any research (core studies, other studies, candidate's own studies)
4. For example:
5. Right to withdraw: ensuring participants know they can leave if they want to; (1 for definition)
6. Deception: misinforming participants; (1 for definition)
7. Right to withdraw
8. letting participants go if they want to; (1 definition)
9. and allowing them to leave without reason; (+1 detail)
10. because they are upset / they think they might be harmed; (+1 detail)
11. and take their data with them/ remove their data from the study; (+1 detail)
12. for example Milgram did originally tell his participants they could leave (1 for example)
13. although Milgram really denied the participants the right to leave with the verbal prods; (+1 for example)
14. 1 (accept 11) participants withdrew from Schachter & Singer's study (due to the injection); (+1 for example)
15. Less possible in lab than field experiments because unaware of participation; (+1 detail)
16. Deception
17. participants should not be lied to / is when participants are lied to (about the aim); (1 definition)
18. as this means they cannot give informed consent / may be distressed / might have wanted to withdraw; (+1 detail)
19. for example in Milgram the participants were told they were doing a study about memory/learning/punishment (when in fact is was about obedience) / were told the shocks were real; (1 for example)
20. but sometimes deception is essential to avoid demand characteristics; (+1 detail)
21. Milgram's participants would have obeyed to 450V if they knew that the shocks were not real; (+1 for example)
22. Piliavin et al's participants thought the victim was really drunk / ill; (+1 for example)
23. Laney et al's participants were misled about the 'generated profile' (from the FHI); (+1 for example)
24. Laney et al's participants were misled about the aim, told food preferences and personality; (+1 for example)
25. If participants are deceived they should be debriefed (although this may not be possible in field experiments)