Social Research Methods MAN-10 Erlan Bakiev, Ph. D. Chapter 5: How to Review the Literature and Conduct Ethical Studies This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Literature Review

Goals of a Literature Review Demonstrate a familiarity Show the path of prior research Integrate and summarize Learn from others

Six Types of Literature Reviews Context review Historical review Integrative review Methodological review Self-study review Theoretical review

Literature Meta-Analysis Locate all potential studies on a specific topic Develop consistent criteria and screen studies for relevance and/or quality Identify and record relevant information for each study Synthesize and analyze the information into broad findings Draw summary conclusions based on the findings

Where to Find Research Literature Periodicals Scholarly journals Books Dissertations Government documents Policy reports Presented paper

Citation Format

Conduct a Systematic Literature Review Define and refine topic Design search Locate research reports Articles Scholarly books Dissertation Government documents Policy reports and presentation papers

How to Evaluate Research Articles Examine the title Read the abstract Read the article How to take notes What to record Organize notes

Using the Internet for Social Research Advantages Easy, fast, and cheap Links connect sources “Democratizing” effect Casts a wide net Disadvantages No quality control Not complete source Often time consuming Difficult to document

Ethics in Social Research

Why be Ethical? Scientific misconduct Research fraud Unethical but legal

Ethics and Research Participants Harm Origins of protection Physical harm Psychological abuse, stress, loss of self-esteem Legal harm Other harm to participants

Three Ethical Controversies Milgram’s obedience study Humphreys’s tearoom trade study Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Ethics and Research Participants Deception/Consent Principle of voluntary consent Informed consent Covert observation

Ethics and Research Participants Special Populations Coercion New inequalities Crossover designs

Ethics and Research Participants Privacy Anonymity Confidentiality Information as property Institutional review board

Ethics and Research Participants Private property Mandated protection Code of ethics Nuremberg code

Principles of Ethical Social Research Responsible individual No personal gain Some form of consent Honor confidentiality/anonymity No coercion/humiliation Avoid deception – if able Detect and remove negative consequences Anticipate repercussions Transparency in sponsorship Cooperation with host nation Transparency of results Consistency between data and results High methodological standards

Ethics and the Sponsors of Research Whistle-blowing Arriving at particular findings Limits on how to conduct studies Contract research Suppressing findings Concealing true sponsor