Deck 3: The Ethics and Politics of Research: Doing What's "Right"

Question 1

According to the text, new forms of information technology

A) make it easier to protect research participants' right to privacy.
B) have increased concerns about privacy invasion in social research.
C) provide researchers with new, ethically neutral methods of social research.
D) simplify procedures for obtaining informed consent.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to federal regulations, informed consent statements must include all but which of the following elements?

A) An explanation of the purposes of the research
B) A description of any reasonable foreseeable risks or discomforts to the participant
C) A description of any benefits to the participant or to others which may be reasonably expected from the research
D) A statement that participants may not be compensated if they choose to discontinue their participation

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The use of deception in social research is allowed by APA and ASA ethical codes so long as

A) it is limited to studies of normal behavior encountered in everyday life.
B) participants are forewarned that they may be deceived.
C) it is used as a last resort after considering alternative nondeceptive procedures.
D) it is determined that participants would not behave naturally unless they are deceived.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In studies in which research participants' identities are known to the researcher, the principal way to protect their privacy is to

A) ensure anonymity.
B) ensure confidentiality.
C) ensure both anonymity and confidentiality.
D) back up the data.

Question 5

A student doing research on sexual behavior conducts an online survey that he tells participants is anonymous. In reality, the IP addresses enable him to identify people who respond, and he uses this information for a follow-up study. In what way(s) is this study ethically problematic?

A) Studies of sexual behavior are inherently unethical.
B) The use of deception is not allowed in student surveys.
C) Participants' privacy has been compromised.
D) Federal regulations prohibit the use of college students for studies of sexual behavior.

Question 6

The final step in the process of protecting the rights and welfare of research participants

A) consists of applying informed consent procedures outlined in the IRB proposal.
B) consists of debriefing participants following data collection.
C) consists of reporting the results of the study to the IRB.
D) may extend beyond the completion of a study.

Question 7

According to Box 3.3, which of the following is true of the ethics of data collection and analysis in the social sciences?

A) Because of pressures to publish, data fabrication is relatively common.
B) Reporting fraudulent data only hurts the individual scientist who fabricates it.
C) Falsification may occur when a researcher excludes certain cases from the analysis to obtain a desired outcome.
D) ASA and APA ethical codes fail to spell out ethical standards pertaining to data collection and analysis.

Question 8

According to Box 3.3, to promote ethical data collection and analysis, it is recommended that social scientists

A) harshly punish dishonest researchers.
B) share their data with others.
C) only report statistically significant results.
D) require certified professional degrees for all federal grant applicants.

Question 9

Each of the following statements is true of the influence of politics on social research except

A) politics influence what scientists study but not how they conduct their research.
B) politics may influence research through the personal values of the researcher.
C) politics may influence research at the structural level, as in research funding.
D) politics affect each step in the research process.

Question 10

To avoid the influence of politics on topic selection, a researcher would need to

A) stop doing research altogether.
B) avoid research on human sexuality and other controversial topics.
C) base topic selection on scientific merit without regard to social benefits.
D) limit funding sources to agencies of the federal government.

Question 11

The Coburn amendment to the 2013 U.S. spending bill was intended to

A) increase support for social science research.
B) decrease support for social science research.
C) eliminate funding for sociology and political science.
D) restrict funding in political science to research that promotes U.S. national security and economic interests.

Question 12

The brief filed by the American Sociological Association in the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court cases involving same-sex marriage

A) advocated a position supported by a slight majority of members of the association.
B) supported federal and state statutes that prohibited same-sex marriage.
C) refuted a study purporting to show that children of same-sex parents fare worse than children of opposite-sex parents.
D) concluded that the evidence was mixed on the impact of same-sex parenting on a child's well-being.

Question 13

The question of conflict of interest arose in the Mark Regnerus study because

A) it was heavily funded by conservative foundations opposed to same-sex marriage.
B) Regnerus failed to disclose his funding sources.
C) its ambiguous findings could be used to either support or oppose same-sex marriage.
D) Regnerus's personal position on same-sex marriage conflicted with his findings.

Question 14

Mark Regnerus may have violated the ethics of social responsibility because he

A) used deception without debriefing his participants.
B) signed a Supreme Court brief that supported statutes opposing same-sex marriage.
C) undertook research that could show the harmful effects of same-sex marriage.
D) misrepresented the scope of his findings and how they apply to same-sex parents.

Question 15

As the chapter on ethics and politics reveals, research ethics pertain to all except which of the following?

A) How research participants should be treated
B) How research topics are selected
C) How data are collected, analyzed, and reported
D) How research results are used

Question 16

According to Box 3.3, some social scientists consider careless errors and poorly conducted research violations of research ethics.

Question 17

The ideal of value neutrality applies to data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

Question 18

Aside from controlling the amount of funds available for research, politicians have very little influence on what researchers choose to study.

Question 19

One way that researchers deal with the influence of politics on their research is to acknowledge their own values.

Question 20

The Belmont Report presented three ethical principles that formed the basis for the development of federal regulations for protecting research participants: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Carefully explain how these principles underlie regulations regarding risk of harm and informed consent.

Question 21

Some scholars have maintained that social science should be completely "value-free." That is, so far as possible, social scientists should eliminate personal values from their research, and they should remain impartial regarding the application of their findings. Their only obligation, in short, is to accurately report what they know, based on their research. Carefully evaluate the tenability of this position. Is it consistent with ethical guidelines regarding the dissemination of knowledge?

Question 22

Explain and give examples of how Mark Regnerus's study on the impact of same-sex and opposite-sex parenting involves issues of both ethics and politics.