Deck 3: The Ethics and Politics of Social Research

Question 1

Ethical issues are distinguished from political issues in research in that:

A)ethics deals more with the substance of research
B)politics deals more with the methods of research
C)there are no formal codes of accepted political conduct whereas there are codes of ethical conduct
D)ethics deals more with the use of research
E)ethical issues and political issues are the same in the research process

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The norm of voluntary participation threatens the social research goal of generalizability.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The process of debriefing,in the context of research,serves to:

A)Informing subjects of any potential risks before their participation.
B)Checking in periodically with subjects to determine their emotional state.
C)Removing identifying information from collected data.
D)Interviewing subjects and discussing deception after their participation.
E)Intentionally misleading subjects during a research project .

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Ethical obligations to one's colleagues in the scientific community:

A)require that technical shortcomings and failures of the study be revealed
B)encourage researchers to ignore negative findings
C)encourage researchers to describe their findings as the product of a carefully preplanned analytical strategy
D)require researchers to report only the positive discoveries
E)all of these choices are ethical obligations

Question 5

Which of the following does NOT harm subjects?

A)Having them face aspects of themselves that they do not normally consider
B)Asking them to reveal their unpopular attitudes
C)Asking them to identify their deviant behavior
D)Allowing them to identify themselves easily in the final report
E)Asking them to provide demographic information

Question 6

Ethics in social research:

A)is defined as general agreements shared by researchers as to what is proper and improper in the conduct of scientific inquiry
B)may stem from religious,political,and pragmatic sources among others
C)may vary from one social research community to another
D)may vary from one point in time to another
E)all of these choices are correct

Question 7

Weber called the lack of intrusion of the researcher's own political position on research:

A)value-free sociology
B)anonymity
C)confidentiality
D)the identity of the researcher
E)deception

Question 8

Once people are told that their participation in a research study is voluntary,there are no ethical problems.

Question 9

When names are removed from questionnaires and are replaced with identification numbers so that only the researcher can later link a response to a particular name,the researcher should tell the respondent that the information is:

A)anonymous
B)confidential
C)anonymous and confidential
D)harmless
E)none of these choices are correct

Question 10

The PRIMARY ethical research issue raised by the Milgram study was:

A)the willingness of people to harm others when "following orders" required it
B)the administering of electrical shocks to the pupils
C)the effects of the methods on the pupils
D)the effects of the methods on the teacher
E)the examination of obedience as a topic for study

Question 11

Only experimental research and face-to-face interviews are subject to ethical concerns.

Question 12

Which of the following statements is NOT found in the AAPOR Code of Professional Ethics and Practices?

A)We shall maintain the right to approve the release of our findings,whether or not ascribed to us.
B)We shall select research tools and methods of analysis because of their special capacity to yield a desired conclusion.
C)We shall protect the anonymity of every respondent,unless the respondent waives such anonymity for specified uses.
D)We shall not knowingly imply that interpretations should be accorded greater confidence than the data actually warrant.
E)All of these choices are cited in the AAPOR Code of Professional Ethics and Practices

Question 13

Anonymity and confidentiality are two different names for the same concept.

Question 14

Which of the following techniques of data collection is MOST likely to make a guarantee of anonymity difficult?

A)Face-to-face interviews
B)Mailed questionnaires
C)Secondary data analysis
D)Unobtrusive measures
E)The data collection technique does not affect the guarantee of anonymity

Question 15

It is often as important to report that two variables are unrelated as to report that they are related.

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT an essential component of informed consent?

A)Disclosure of any potential risks associated with the research
B)A description of the possible benefits to science and society
C)A statement that once they begin participation,they cannot quit
D)A statement that participation in the project is voluntary
E)A statement of any provisions for confidentiality or anonymity

Question 17

Social scientists are totally objective in their research

Question 18

IRBs work to insure that the agency doing the research is protected against lawsuits by human subjects.

Question 19

Everyone agrees that Tom's research does NOT inflict physical harm on subjects.Tom is pleased by this conclusion because it means that he no longer has to be concerned with the issue of harm to subjects.

Question 20

Professor Smith decides to track the dating behaviors of college students throughout their college careers.She decides to begin her research using her introductory class.After explaining the study,she assures students that their responses will be kept confidential.The students complete her survey during class.Her research most clearly impinges on:

A)deception
B)no harm to participants
C)voluntary participation
D)the value placed on anonymity
E)value-free reports of the data

Question 21

Debriefing entails discussing any potential threats to the participants in research before they take part,during the informed consent process.

Question 22

Social scientists agree that objectivity is necessary for research.

Question 23

At the conclusion of his research project,Fred interviews his research subjects to discover whether they have problems because of their participation in the research project.Fred is engaged in the debriefing process.