The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology together with the UGM Psychology Doctoral Program held a Research Ethics Seminar on Tuesday (11/1). The seminar was divided into two sessions with two different speakers. For the first session. Present Prof. Dra. RA Yayi Suryo Prabandari, while in the second session as a speaker, Dra. Sri Kusrohmaniah, M.Sc., Ph.D Psychologist with the topic “Ethical Considerations in Psychological Research”. “I will give a discussion about the introduction and why it is necessary to study ethics in psychological research,” explained Kusrohmaniah at the beginning of the material.
Research is an investigative activity designed systematically so that it contributes and plays a role in the development of science. Research is reliable and valuable when it uses appropriate scientific methods and meets scientific quality standards. “So, knowledge will exist if it is built from data obtained systematically,” said Kusrohmaniah.
The WHO’s Ethics Committee argues that in a research process where a person is exposed to manipulation, intervention, observation, or other interactions with researchers directly or through changes in their environment, ethical clearance is required. In addition, participants who can be identified when research data are collected, prepared, or biological materials are used, such as medical records, the research process also requires an Ethical Clearance application.
This ethical review is necessary because it is one of the efforts that researchers can do to help protect participants, researchers, and universities. Therefore, it is mandatory for all research involving humans to have Ethical Clearance. “In addition, for some cases the ethics commission will also communicate with universities and scholarship providers to ensure that the research process is running according to procedures,” explained Kusrohmaniah.
In Psychology, several matters relating to ethical issues are informed consent, debrief, protection of participants, deception, confidentiality, and withdrawal from an investigation. In addition, other things that researchers also need to pay attention to are related to research design, data security and storage, benefits, and risks, protected participants, and the process when dealing with sensitive matters.