ethical implications of research studies and theory

Question 1

ethical implications and social sensitivity

Answer 1

• ethical implications concern the consequences that research may have, some areas have greater social sensitivity than others
• for example, research on LTM in a student population is unlikely to have consequences for the individual participants or for broader social groups
• in contrast, a study on depression may have consequences in terms of individual participants, such as them revealing personal info that is later accessed by a prospective employer

Question 2

implications for the research process

Answer 2

• all research has potential consequences but this applies to socially sensitive research in particular
• all stages of planning and conducting are important, as well as handling findings

research question -
- Sieber and Stanley warned that the way in which research questions are phrased and investigated may influence how findings are interpreted

dealing with participants -
- issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and psychological harm are important in socially senstive research
- for example, in a study on domestic abuse, participants may worry that an ex-partner will find out about the study etc.

the way findings are used -
- researchers should consider how research findings may be used
- especially important because findings may be seen as giving scientific credence to existing prejudices
- sensitive info is also exactly what the media tend to be interested in and will publicise

Question 3

evaluation strength - benefits for groups

Answer 3

• an example of this is homosexuality, the DSM-1 listed this as a ‘sociopathic personality disorder’ which was then removed in 1973
• this change was credited to the Kinsey report which was based on anonymous interviews with men about their sexual behaviour, concluding that homosexuality is a normal variant of human sexual behaviour
• illustrates importance of researchers tackling topics that are sensitive

Question 4

evaluation strength - real-world application

Answer 4

• certain groups rely on research related to socially sensitive issues
• the government looks to research when developing important social policies, clearly preferable to base policies on scientific research rather than politically-motivated views
• in the UK there are therefore independent groups who are responsible for collecting, analysing and disseminating objective statistics about economy, society and population

Question 5

evaluation limitation - poor research design

Answer 5

• poor research design may lead to erroneous findings which, once in the public arena, continue to have an impact
• for example, Burt established the 11+ exam, however it was revealed that much of his data was fake, yet the 11+ exam still is used
• any research on socially sensitive topics needs to be planned with care, to ensure the findings are valid due to the enduring effects on groups of people