Are Recent Changes to the BACB's Ethics Code on Research Appropriate for all Subdisciplines?

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
• Organizational Behavior Management (OBM)

Background:

• Calls for diversification in applied behavior analysis (ABA) practice and consumer base have increased over the last decade.
• Despite some successes, ABA practitioners predominantly serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Overly prescriptive research ethics for human subjects may hinder exploration in diverse practice areas with potentially less vulnerable populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the research practices of organizational behavior management (OBM) researchers concerning ethical approval and informed consent.
• To explore whether OBM, a subdiscipline of ABA with arguably less vulnerable clientele, adheres to the same stringent ethical standards as traditional ABA research.
• To inform discussions on the adaptability of research ethics across different applied behavior analysis (ABA) subdisciplines.

Main Methods:

• A survey was distributed to active researchers within the field of organizational behavior management (OBM).
• The survey specifically queried researchers about their methodologies regarding ethical approval processes and participant consent.
• Data collection focused on practices preceding the commencement of research studies.

Main Results:

• Survey results indicated that OBM researchers do not consistently obtain informed consent from participants.
• Formal research review or approval prior to data collection is not always secured by OBM researchers.
• These findings suggest a divergence in ethical research practices between OBM and other areas of applied behavior analysis (ABA).

Conclusions:

• Research ethics standards may need to be context-dependent rather than universally prescriptive.
• The findings support the need for tailored ethical guidelines that acknowledge the unique characteristics of different practice areas within applied behavior analysis (ABA).
• Further examination of research practices in other human behavior study areas outside the laboratory is recommended to broaden conclusions.