Ch 3 Ethical Issues in Social Research Flashcards
What 3 values are in the Belmont Report (pillar of human research ethics)?
respect for humans - recognize the personal dignity and autonomy of individuals
Beneficence - obligation to protect persons from harm by maximizing anticipated benefits and minimize possible risk
Justice - benefits and burdens of research should be distributed fairly
Ethics
the study of what is proper and improper behavior, of moral duty and obligation.
Moral principles can be grounded in what 2 things?
philosophy or theology
or BOTH
What 2 events were catalysts to set ethical standards for research? (minority experience)
In Europe during WW2 - horrible experiments to see the results such as infecting people with disease, freezing body parts, high altitude flight, etc.
In US - a study of syphilis. some had it, some didn’t, but all were poor. they studied them over years to see how the disease even AFTER there was a “cure” without giving it to them except for a few who asked for it.
what is the criteria for the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) ?
risks to subjects are minimized
risks to subjects are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits and knowledge that may be expected to result
selection of subjects is equitable
informed consent will be sought
informed consent will be properly documented
when appropriate, make adequate provision for monitoring data collected to ensure safety
when appropriate, adequate provisions to protect privacy of subjects and confidentiality of data
What are the 6 basic ethical issues that arise in social science research?
informed consent
deception
privacy
physical or mental distress
problems in sponsored research
scientific misconduct or fraud
scientific advocacy
Informed consent
telling potential research participants about ALL the aspects of the research which might reasonably influence the decision to participate.
ethical absolutists
believe people should be FULLY informed of all aspects of the research in which they might play a part
what are some negatives to written consent
can decrease rate of cooperation
reduce people’s willingness to participate because they have to put their name when they were told it would be confidential
might not understand what they are agreeing to
may reduce response rates
Deception
many experiments need some deception in that they don’t tell their participants the true research hypotheses
sometimes they use disguised observation where people are being observed but unaware
debriefing
after observations, people are told the true purposes of the research and informed of any deceptions that were used
Privacy
refers to the ability to control when and under what conditions others will have access to your beliefs, values, or behavior.
Two case studies in regards to privacy
Humphreys - disguised himself as the watch queen while guys would have sexual interactions in public restrooms without them knowing he was observing for science
Small town in mass society - authors told people confidentiality would be maintained, however people recognized who was who and were outraged.
3 ways to deal with the problem of protecting people’s privacy
let subjects edit their data
keep data anonymous
keep data confidential
Anonymity
no one, including the researcher, can link any data to a particular respondent
confidentiality
ensuring info about or data collected from those who participate in a study are not made public in a way that can be linked to an individual
Courts or public agencies may subpoena research data that reveal participants identities. true or false?
true - unless you have a certificate of confidentiality from the Public Health Service
Researchers should avoid exposing participants to physical or mental distress or danger. true or false?
true
3 areas of concern in sponsored research
it is common for sponsors to want to retain control over the release of the collected data
the nature of the research project itself - precise purpose and procedures of the study should be specified in the agreement
issue of informed consent - revealing the sponsors identity to participants
how are results of a study communicated?
form of a report to sponsoring organization
publication in professional journal
news release to media
Fraud
the deliberate falsification, misrepresentation, or plagiarizing of the data, findings, or ideas of others
ex - falsifying data, embellishing research reports, reporting research that hasn’t been conducted
misconduct
a broader concept that includes not only fraud, but also carelessness or bias in recording and reporting data, mishandling data, and incomplete reporting of results
two major mechanisms to detect fraud
peer review
replication
Weber believed that social scientists…
have no special responsibility for the ultimate use to which that knowledge is put
they are under no obligation to advocate particular uses of scientific knowledge
“value-free” - social scientists should create knowledge, not apply it
