Socially Sensitive Research

Question 1

What is it

Answer 1

• attention to the media and general public
• how the research question is formulated
• how the research is conducted and how participants are treated
• context and place of research
• interpretation and application of research findings

Question 2

Social psych arguments

Answer 2

• cultural issues in social psych can lead to racism
• if one type of culture is seen as leading to more prejudice than another
• issues about gender can be socially sensitive and findings have to be dealt with sensitively if they might upset individuals or groups

Question 3

Cognitive psych arguments

Answer 3

• Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are very debilitating for someone and being diagnosed with with memory problems is distressing
• people with brain damage might benefit from knowing what the damage means but this needs to be dealt with sensitively. The findings of research do impact others which means care needs to be taken in how society uses such findings

Question 4

Learning theories arguments

Answer 4

• a society might want to children to develop in a more open and individual way, whereas schools can be seen as producing behaviour that suits social norms
• learning theories are used in therapies, which again is around shaping required behaviour
• token economy ideas can be used to make behaviour acceptable but this is a socially sensitive area because it means that people can not be who they truly are