Transcript Ethics and Social Research Chapter 3 Introduction  Ethical principles in research  The set of values, standards, and principles used to determine appropriate and acceptable conduct.

Ethics and Social
Research
Chapter 3
Introduction
 Ethical principles in research

The set of values, standards, and principles
used to determine appropriate and acceptable
conduct at all stages of the research process
Introduction
 Stop and Think
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Do you know of any research projects in the
social sciences, medicine, or biology where
researchers did something that was ethically
questionable?
What was it about the study that raised
questions for you?
Introduction
 Historical perspectives on research ethics
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American Psychological Association (APA)
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Introduction
 Historical perspectives on research ethics
 Total disregard for the human dignity perpetrated
during World War II by researchers in
concentration camps controlled by Nazi Germany
 Air pressure
 Cold water
 Treatment of wounds
 Exposure to chemical-warfare agents
 Essential to have voluntary consent of human
subjects
Introduction
• Historical perspectives on research ethics
•
Nuremberg Code
•
Principles about research on human beings
Introduction
• Historical perspectives on research ethics
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Atomic Energy Commission
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Conducted research on the effects of radiation on
human subjects, including medical research on
using radioisotopes to diagnose or cure disease
Semi-comatose cancer patients were injected
with plutonium to determine how much uranium
was needed to produce kidney damage
Introduction
• Historical perspectives on research ethics
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The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
 Conducted by the United States Public Health Service to
study the effect of untreated syphilis to determine the
natural history of the disease
 Project began in 1932 and lasted 40 years
 Sample began with 399 poor black men with late-stage
syphilis. In the end, the study included a total of 600 men.
 Offered free medical care in exchange for their medical
data. None were told that they had syphilis.
 More than 400 were not offered the standard treatment for
syphilis. They were also not provided penicillin when it
became available as a cure.
 Many of the men died of the disease and some unknowingly
transmitted the disease to their wives and children.
Introduction
• Historical perspectives on research ethics
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Institutional review board (IRB)
 The committee at a college, university, or research
center responsible for evaluating the ethics of
proposed research
 Levels of IRB review
Quiz – Question 1

What is the primary factor to consider in
determining the needed level of IRB
review?
Introduction
 Focal research
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“Ethical Concerns and Researcher
Responsibilities in Studying Women with
HIV/AIDS”
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Process of conducting research
 Ethical practices
 Using informed consent procedures
 Respondent’s privacy and confidentiality
 Preserving the integrity of the respondent’s
narratives
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Ethics

A set of moral and social standards that
includes both prohibitions against and
prescriptions for specific kinds of behavior in
research
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in research
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Protect study participants from harm
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The principle that participants in studies are not
harmed, physically, psychologically, emotionally,
legally, socially, or financially as a result of their
participation in a study
Milgram experiment
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in research
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Voluntary participation and informed consent
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The principle that study participants choose to
participate of their own free will
Informed consent
 A statement that describes the study and the
researcher and formally requests participation
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Stop and Think
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Who should give informed consent in a study
involving students under 18?
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The students?
Their parents?
Both?
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in research
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Voluntary participation and informed consent
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Passive consent
 When no response is considered an affirmative
consent to participate in research; also called “opt
out informed consent
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in
research
 Voluntary
participation and informed
consent
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Are participants really volunteers?
 Have you ever been asked by an instructor while your
were his or her student to participate in a study they were
conducting?
 Were you ever asked while in a class to complete a
questionnaire or participate in an interview?
 Did you feel an pressure or did you feel you could
decline easily?
 Are students in these situations truly volunteers?
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in
research
 Voluntary participation and informed
consent
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Is it ethical to observe people in public,
without there knowledge?
 Study college students by letting them assume
you are one of them
 Gather data by attending an AA meeting
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in research
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Anonymity and confidentiality
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Anonymity
 When no one, including the researcher, knows the
identities of research participants
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in research
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Anonymity and confidentiality
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Confidentiality (privacy)
 When no third party knows the identities of the
research participants
 Keeping the information disclosed by study
participants, including their identities, from all other
parties
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Principles regarding participants in research
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Anonymity and confidentiality
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Tearoom Trade - Humphreys
Quiz – Question 2
 What two principles did Humphrey’s violate?
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Ethical issues concerning colleagues and the
general public
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Honest reporting
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The ethical responsibility to produce and report
accurate data
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Ethical dilemmas during and after data collection
 Who owns the data?
 Whose interpretation counts?
 Who has veto power?
 What are the researcher’s obligations after the data are
collected?
 Can the data be used against the participants?
 Will the data be used on their behalf?
 Do researchers have an obligation to protect the
communities and the social groups they study or just to
guard the rights of individuals?
Principles for Doing Ethical Research
 Ethical dilemmas during and after data
collection
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Conflicts between ethical principles
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Research by Ptacek (1988)
Research by Yassour-Borochowitz (2004)
Conflicts Between Ethical Concerns
and Legal Matters
 Research by Calvey (2008)
 Research by Leo (1995)
 Research by Scarce (1995)
Conflicts Between Ethical Principles
and Research Interests
 Research by Jackall (1998)
 Research by Frankenberg (1993)
 Research by Rollins (1985)
 Research by Lauder (2003)
 Research by Ward and Henderson (2003)
Ethics and Publishing Results
 Research by Ellis and colleagues (2008)
Making Decisions to Maximize
Benefit and Minimize Risk
 Think about the consequences of doing a
given study as opposed to not doing the
study
 Consider all options and methods to find a
research strategy that balances being ethical,
being practical, with the likelihood of
obtaining good quality data
Summary
 Protect research participants from harm
 Get informed consent
 Be sure the study participants have not been
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pressured into volunteering
Collect data anonymously or keep data confidential
Submit the research proposal to a review board
Provide accurate research findings
Consider responsibilities to research colleagues and
the general public
Maximize benefits and minimize risks
Quiz – Question 3
Of the following ways to do research, which is
likely to involve the most serious ethical
concerns?
a. In person interviews
b. Mail in questionnaires
c. Observation in a public place
d. Analyzing data from a secondary source
e. Content analysis