|
Debriefing is an essential component of good experimental research. Ethical obligations require that we offer our participants a full explanation of our study any time that we use deception. Even if we don't deceive our participants about the true nature of our experiment, it is always a good idea to ask them about their experience of the study. By talking with them directly about the research, we can learn valuable information about the study.
|
|
|
Many psychology students expect that there will be deception in the study and will try to guess the hypothesis. If they are well meaning, they may respond in a manner that they believe will be helpful to you. If not, they may try to "bust" the study with odd or unusual responses. If you know that they were trying to guess the true purpose of the study, you may decide to eliminate their responses from analyses.
Participants can also tell us about aspects of the study that were particularly difficult or enjoyable. This information can be very helpful when we are trying to make sense of study findings.
Finally, if our study caused any emotional distress, giving participants an opportunity to discuss their feelings may help to reduce their distress. We also can use the debriefing to give them information about counseling resources.
|
|
