Research Ethics and Structuring Inquiry

Ethics and Politics of Research Ethics deals with methods used in research. Politics deals with representation of research. James Colemen and School Desegregation Eminent sociologist who found little difference in the academic performance of African-Americans in integrated vs. segregated schools Instead family and neighborhood mattered most Controversy and misrepresentation

Ethics in Social Research Voluntary participation. No harm to participants. Voluntary participation is based on a full understanding of possible risks. Anonymity and confidentiality.

Ethics in Social Research Deception Needs to be justified by compelling scientific or administrative concerns. Debriefing session or procedure Analysis and Reporting Researchers must be honest about their findings and research.

Ethics in Social Research Institutional Review Boards Review research proposals involving humans so they can guarantee the rights and interests are protected. Professional Codes of Ethics Most professional associations have formal codes of conduct that describe acceptable and unacceptable professional behavior.

Ethical Controversy: Tearooms Study of homosexual behavior in public restrooms Lied to participants by telling them he was a “watchqueen” Traced participants to their home and interviewed them under false pretenses Invasion of privacy? Deception of respondents?

Ethical Controversy: Milgram Study of human obedience. Subjects had role of "teacher" and administered a shock to "pupils". Pupils were actually part of the experiment. Act out the effects of progressively higher “shocks” Two-third continue to the highest level “teachers” express great discomfort

Group Exercise Would you use research insights gained from research conducted in violation of ethical guidelines? Ex., Tuskegee Airman Studies Ex., Nazi War Experiments Would you conduct a study that did not get IRB approval if you thought the topic was important? Ex. Public responses to major news event Ex. Studying the health effects of an oil spill

Nature of Inquiry What question are you trying to answer? Pick the appropriate approach Do you want to explain one case fully or understand a class of cases? Different approaches with different goals

Idiographic vs. Nomothetic Two ends of a continuum of inquiry The Idiographic Orientation Unique characteristics of phenomena: Rich description of “idiosyncratic” features Intention is to explain one case fully The Nomothetic Orientation Generating generalizable principles Establishing “trans-situational” laws Intention is to explain a class

Inductive Reasoning Moves from the particular to the general Observations lead to generalizations Exploratory investigation E.g., Identifying news frames through ethnographic study of newsroom culture and news production practices Identifying frames as you encounter them

Deductive Reasoning Moves from the general to the particular General principles lead to expectations for empirical testing Theory testing investigation E.g., Using theories of news production to: Predict certain frames will occur more frequently Episodic over thematic framing (Iyengar’s research)

Wallace’s Wheel of Science ABSTRACT Theories INDUCTION DEDUCTION Empirical Generalizations Hypotheses Observations CONCRETE

Creating Explanations Research often seeks explanations by: examining relationships between variables E.g. Is gender related to party preference? E.g. Is education related to prejudice? E.g. Is political discussion related to civic participation?

Conditions of Causality: Covariation Correspondence between cause and effect Positive or negative covariation Time-order Cause must precede effect Absence of third variables Spurious relationships

Spurious Relationships Situations where X and Y appear to be related: But are really the function of third variable Z 1. Antecedent variable Z causes both X and Y 2. Intervening variable X causes Z, Z causes X Causation is rarely as simple as X causing Y Multitude of factors cause Y Contribute in varying amounts

Necessary & Sufficient Causes Necessary Cause: For Y to occur, X must occur first Just because X occurs, doesn’t mean Y will occur Other factors may have to occur too To pass the test, you must take the test Sufficient Cause: If X occurs, Y will occur X determines Y, no contingencies Other factors may also have the effect If you skip an exam, you fail the exam