APA Ethics Case Study

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I believe that Dr Thomas is not practicing ethically because his actions violate several APA codes of ethics. Dr Thomas’s self created measure of stress does not adhere to the provisions of APA code of ethics 9.2 Use of Assessments and 9.5 Test Construction. Consequently, Dr. Thomas did not use appropriate psychometric procedures and current scientific or professional knowledge for his test design. His test did not demonstrate usefulness in determining the measurement objective of stress level. Dr. Thomas subsequently designed a test based on the employee’s age, number of hours worked per week, history of absences, amount of vacation taken, birth order, number of pounds overweight, salary, amount of exercise, and eating habits. None of these measures represent appropriate psychometric procedures to test …show more content…

He also fails to demonstrate the measures usefulness in determining the measurement objective of stress level. Lastly, Dr Thomas would also, based on APA code 9.3 Informed Consent in Assessment, needed to have obtained informed consent from the participants before conducting his test. If I were a psychotherapy researcher planning to study the effectiveness of a new approach to psychotherapy for people with severe depression, I would have to address several ethical issues. I would have to first and foremost address the issue of possible harm to the participants. As a psychotherapist according the APA ethics code 3.4 I must take reasonable steps to avoid harming the participants and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and

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