Before research projects can begin, the ethics of the procedures must be evaluated. Thus, if you're reading the results of a scientific study, it's safe to assume the study's ethics were evaluated. However, researchers sometimes describe specific ethical issues in their research. Answer these questions about ethics as you read research reports:

• Does the researcher address ethical issues associated with the research in his/her report?
• Was there any risk to participants in the research? How did the researcher reduce risk?
• What were the benefits to participants in the research? How does society benefit from the research?

Was deception used in the study? Was deception justified? Could the research have been conducted without deception? Were participants debriefed after their participation was over?