In at the deep end or still testing the water? Subject pools and required participation in UK psychology departments

Abstract

This paper addresses the ethical status and educational value of requiring students to participate in psychological research, and reports the results of two surveys of United Kingdom psychology departments undertaken in 1995 and 1997 concerning the extent to which practice in the UK mirrors that in the United States. It considers ethical guidelines issued by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the British Psychological Society (BPS), and identifies the BPS’s omission of information concerning the ethical status of required participation. The paper concludes that in spite of this omission, required participation schemes are rapidly becoming the norm in UK psychology departments.