Question

should people who are observed in field experiements be debreifed, 1 paragraph supporting pro position and 1 paragraph supporting con position, must be 400 words

Answer 1

Debriefing is the procedure that is conducted in psychological research with human subjects after an experiment or study has been concluded. It involves a structured or semi structured interview between the researcher and the subjects whereby all elements of the study are discussed in detail.

According to the American Psychological Association's Code of Ethics (1989), participants should have a good idea of what is going to happen to them and should give their written permission before the experiment begins. Furthermore, after the experiment, participants should be debriefed: informed about what they have just done and why.

Researcher may not want to debrief the participants for fear that the participants might tell other potential participants about the study. The ethical guidelines, on the other hand, recommend that they debrief participants so that participants get some benefit from their participation and so that researcher can remove any harm they may have inadvertently caused.

Debriefing also be used as an educational tool, even when the study does not involve the use of deception. Participants should be given a simple, clear and informative explanation of the rationale for the design of the study and the methods used.

Debriefing provides the opportunity to gain insight into a participant’s reflection of the study. It can be used as an opportunity to assess contentment of participation and difficulties or problems in the design. It could be used to highlight predictors of high dropout rates, boredom and where boredom and tiredness may affect results.

Debriefing is important and not solely for the purpose of ethical duty. It has importance as a tool for positive participant-researcher relations, participant feedback and an opportunity for education.

Experimenters who employ deception are responsible for debriefing the participants -- describing the nature of the deception, why it was done, why the approach was chosen over other procedures not involving deception, and allowing the participant to express their feeling about what happened.

There are a number of problems with using deception. Even when debriefed afterward, some participants may become angry and wonder whether the researcher is simply practicing a further deception. Often participants figure out what is really going on, even though the researcher attempts to hide the true purpose of the study. Deception may have a negative effect on the participants' attitudes toward behavioral research. People dislike being lied to and research subjects are no exception. Finally, there is the negative effect on the researcher when forced to lie to other people it can produce cynicism and distance from the people being studied.