In the Late 1960s, Laud Humphries Conducted a Study Called

Essay

In the late 1960s, Laud Humphries conducted a study called "The Tearoom Trade." Humphries posed as a "watch queen" (a man who guards the doors of restrooms in public parks so that men can have sex with other men inside). Humphries wrote down the license plate numbers of the men who had sex with other men, then looked up their addresses, disguised his appearance, and went to their homes to interview them a year later. Humphries discovered that, contrary to popular opinion, many of the men were actually married to women and living otherwise quiet, middle-class lives. Today, this study is considered unethical. In light of what you learned about research ethics in Chapter 2 of the text, what ethical principles does this study violate? Do you personally feel the benefits of the study (it destroyed many stereotypes) outweighed the risks?