Final answer:
Privileged communication pertains to confidentiality and is associated with legal discretion to prevent disclosure of information from certain professional relations. In research contexts, deception may be utilized by researchers to ensure participants' natural responses aren't altered, but it must be conducted and followed up ethically.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of privileged communication pertains to confidentiality. It refers to the legal requirement which ensures that certain relationships, such as those between attorney and client or doctor and patient, have the discretion to prevent the disclosure of the information exchanged within these relationships to third parties. This concept is crucial to maintain trust and privacy.
Getting back to the student's question, researchers might use b. deception as a method to prevent participants from altering their behavior in a way that skews their natural responses. It is essential, however, that any deception used must be ethically justified and that participants are debriefed afterwards, being provided with a full explanation of the deception and its reasons.