Deck 3: The Ethics and Politics of Social Research

Question 1

Consider the following real and hypothetical research situations. What is the ethical component in each example? How do you feel about it? Do you think the procedures described are ultimately acceptable or unacceptable? You might find it useful to discuss some of these situations with classmates.
a. A psychology instructor asks students in an in troductory psychology class to complete questionnaires that the instructor will analyze and use in preparing a journal article for publication.
b. After a field study of deviant behavior during a riot, law enforcement officials demand that the researcher identify those people who were observed looting. Rather than risk arrest as an accomplice after the fact, the researcher complies.
c. After completing the final draft of a book reporting a research project, the researcher-author discovers that 25 of the 2,000 survey interviews were falsified by interviewers. To protect the bulk of the research, the author leaves out this information and publishes the book.
d. Researchers obtain a list of right-wing radicals they wish to study. They contact the radicals with the explanation that each has been selected "at random" from among the general population to take a sampling of "public opinion."
e. A college instructor, who wants to test the effect of unfair berating, administers an hour exam to both sections of a specific course. The overall performance of the two sections is essentially the same. The grades of one section are artificially lowered, however, and the instructor berates the students for performing so badly. The instructor then administers the same final exam to both sections and discovers that the performance of the unfairly berated section is worse. The hypothesis is confirmed, and the research report is published.
f. In a study of sexual behavior, the investigator wants to overcome subjects' reluctance to report what they might regard as shameful behavior. To get past their reluctance, subjects are asked, "Everyone masturbates now and then; about how much do you masturbate?"
g. A researcher studying dorm life on campus discovers that 60 percent of the residents regularly violate restrictions on alcohol consumption. Publication of this finding would probably create a furor in the campus community. Because no extensive analysis of alcohol use is planned, the researcher decides to keep this finding quiet.
h. To test the extent to which people may try to save face by expressing attitudes on matters they are wholly uninformed about, the researcher asks for subjects' attitudes regarding a fictitious issue.
i. A research questionnaire is circulated among students as part of their university registration packet. Although students are not told they must complete the questionnaire, the hope is that they will believe they must-thus ensuring a higher completion rate.
j. A researcher pretends to join a radical political group in order to study it and is successfully accepted as a member of the inner planning circle. What should the researcher do if the group makes plans for the following?
(1) A peaceful, though illegal, demonstration
(2) The bombing of a public building during a time it is sure to be unoccupied
(3) The assassination of a public official

Answer 1

Ethical considerations have significant influence on shaping a social research. The following examples illustrate the ethical components of each of the situations.
a. The psychology instructor administering a questionnaire to the students without their consent is unethical. The instructor should have presented the purpose of the questionnaire and have obtained the consent before presenting it.
b. A researcher must resist the coercion by the police to share the personal information collected during the field study. The participants of the research may be legally punishable or are offenders of the law; the researcher must not share their personal information with anybody.
c. A research report must disclose the erroneous or spurious data obtained, and must eliminate it from the statistical analysis. It is unethical to suppress such information.
d. The radicals should be informed about the nature of the research, and be informed about the motives of selecting them as participants. The researcher must not lie to the radicals.
e. The hypothesis of the researcher may be proved through the experiment, but it was unethical to berate the participants. The experimenter should have presented the risks and likelihood of harm the experiment can have on the participants, and should have obtained their consent.
f. According to the study of sexual behavior, masturbation is not considered a shameful act. The human body releases certain hormones where one tends to perform and indulge in acts of self-desire. Many researches have stated that it isn't an issue of shame at all.
g. Since the alcohol consumption is not part of the research study, and excluding the alcohol factor in the study would not affect the outcome of the project. It is wise for the researcher not to include the findings about the alcohol consumption in the dorms.
h. A researcher is required to inform the participant about the procedures of the study and the risks involved in participation. The researcher may not explain the content of the study. The researcher can ask about the unknown things to the volunteered participants after securing their permission.
i. Including a research questionnaire in the admission packet is unethical. The university authorities should not have allowed including the questionnaire.
j. The researcher is not only committing unethical act, but also attracting personal risk by joining the radical group under a guise.
Applying ethical standards to various situations, and discussing ethical matters with classmates, help us to become more sensitive to ethical dimensions of the research.

Question 2

Review the discussion of the Milgram experiment on obedience. How would you design a study to accomplish the same purpose while avoiding the ethical criticisms leveled at Milgram? Would your design be equally valid? Would it have the same effect?

Answer 2

Milgram's experiment definitely breaches the current ethical principles followed in the social research. It is difficult to think of an alternate to the experimental design used by Milgram. The experiment may be redesigned to avoid the unethical elements of the study. The following are some of the suggestions to improve the experimental procedure.
The following are some of the suggestions to improve the experimental procedure without being unethical.
• The participants must be informed about the cruel behavior that they need to perform or avoid it using their conscience.
• A light may be switched on (to be seen by the participant) soon after the learner's response. The light will remain on for few seconds, and then will be put off. Before it is put off, the participant has the choice to apply his or her conscience to punish or not to punish with the shock. However, the participant must decide before the light is put off.
However, there still might be discrepancies in issues of implementation as ethics differ from person to person. Identifying unethical behavior or intimating cues about is necessary and avoid conflicts in the society.

Question 3

Suppose a researcher who is personally in favor of small families (as a response to the problem of overpopulation) wants to conduct a survey to determine why some people want many children and others don't. What personal-involvement problems would the researcher face and how could she or he avoid them?

Answer 3

Overpopulation is a state of undesirable condition where there is excess of human population than the carrying capacity of certain area or a space. It is caused by various reasons like reduction in mortality rates and advanced medical facilities.
However, one can develop a favorable bias opinion on a certain category or demographic people owing to their lifestyle conditions. It is naturally clear that in the present situation, people are forced to plan their families basing on their living conditions and their capabilities of raising a child.
Since the study is related to the family planning, the researcher needs to ask questions that are related to intimate aspects of the participant. The researcher needs to be highly ethical while accessing the intimate dimensions of the survey participants.
His favorable issues or any influence of opinion should be excluded from the process of conducting a research.
Some of the preparations the researchers can adopt to increase the ethical considerations are as follows.
• Refer the study to the internal review board, and obtain their permission and suggestions before carrying out the actual research.
• Inform the probable participant about the nature of the study and warn the participant that personally oriented questions may be asked.
• Renounce the personal information and opinion as soon as the relevant data is analyzed for generating conclusions.
Moreover, the sole ambition of a researcher should be to gather on the opinions basing on the survey and analyze the data on the basis of research topic.

Question 4

What ethical issues should the researcher in item 3 take into account in designing the survey?