Boundaries to research Ethics in Science Boundaries to research

Ethical Concerns Question: Do scientist have a responsibility to assure the welfare of their subjects? Discussion Example: CIA Germ Warfare Experiment Can the ends justify the means? At what cost? Is acceptable for researchers to decide whether the benefits outweigh the costs of hardship or suffering to the subjects? What if it involves finding the cure for a disease? What if the outcome of the study creates for a safer and more secure national defense?

Main Categories of ethics Wellbeing of the subjects Accurate and honest reporting of the results Question: Who has control over those decisions? How can we assure integrity?

Historical Ethical Issues Historical highlights of treatment of human participants Nuremberg Code (1947) Ten guidelines for the ethical treatment of human subjects in research Declaration of Helsinki (1946) Provided international ethics guidelines for medical research

Ethics in Social Science Milgram’s obedience study (1963) Sought to discover how far subjects would go in order to obey an authority figure See Video, Discussion to follow Stanford Prison Experiment – Video, Discussion to follow

American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines Ethical guidelines for the use and treatment of human participants in research First set of guidelines for protecting human subjects in research (1973) Updated and expanded many times, and periodically reviewed APA Ethics Code: 10 standards

American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines APA ethical guidelines for the use and treatment of nonhuman subjects in research Include the general care and maintenance of animal subjects and govern housing conditions, food, sanitation, and medical care for research animals.

Major Ethical Issues No harm Subjects must be protected from physical or psychological harm. Clinical equipoise: may violate principle of “No Harm” Unlikely to become common practice Consider the Stanford Prison Study: Subjects adopted role of prisoner or guard Study had to be prematurely ended due to subjects’ behavior Was there harm done? Was it worth the knowledge gained?

Major Ethical Issues Informed consent Subjects must be informed of all available information about the study so they can make a rational decision to participate (or not) Information Understanding Voluntary participation

Major Ethical Issues Deception (used in the Milgram experiment) May be allowed and comes in two forms Passive deception (or omission) Active deception (or commission) Confederates Guidelines: Justification: benefit must outweigh the risk Cannot conceal factors that may cause physical harm or severe emotional distress Must provide a debriefing after participation

Major Ethical Issues Confidentiality; Protect Subjects Identity Ensured through anonymity Includes: Attitudes and opinions Measures of performance Demographic characteristics

Ethics of Internet Research Facebook (2014) Emotional Manipulation Study -Tested to see if positive or negative feed content can influence the mood of users. No consent sought Facebook users not informed prior to the feed manipulation What are the ethical concerns here? Is there potential for harm? Could Facebook have afflicted harm? How do we assure protection of users?

Selected Components of an Informed Consent Form Section of the Form Purpose and Contents Overview Presentation of the goals of the study, why this study is being conducted, and who is responsible for the study and its execution. Description of procedures Clarification of the experimental conditions, assessment procedures, and requirements of the participants. Risks and inconveniences Statement of any physical and psychological risks and an estimate of their likelihood. Inconveniences and demands to be placed on the participants (e.g., how many sessions, requests to do anything, or contact at home). Benefits A statement of what the participants can reasonably hope to gain from participation, including psychological, physical, and monetary benefits. Costs and economic considerations Charges to the participants (e.g., in treatment) and payment (e.g., for participation or completing various forms). Confidentiality Assurances that the information is confidential and will only be seen by people who need to do so for the purposes of research (e.g., scoring and data analyses), procedures to assure confidentiality (e.g., removal of names from forms, storage of data). Also, caveats are included here if it is possible that sensitive information (e.g., psychiatric information, criminal activity) can be subpoenaed. Table 4.3 Components of Informed Consent Forms (partial)

The Institutional Review Board Reviews research proposals, Institution Specific: Minimization of risk to participants Reasonable risk in relation to benefits Equitable selection Informed consent Documentation of informed consent Data monitoring Privacy and confidentiality Question: What about private companies like Google and Facebook?

4.4 Ethical Issues and Scientific Integrity Integrity and Accuracy of Scientific Reporting Fraud Plagiarism

Fraud in Science Why do researchers commit fraud? Intentional reporting of false data Why do researchers commit fraud? To remain competitive in their academic environment Concern that if their research is not published, they may fail to earn tenure (“publish or perish”)

Safeguards to Prevent Fraud Experimental research must be able to be replicated Peer reviewed by experts in the field Data must be shared with others upon request Loss of credibility in the profession

Group Work: Constructing a Consent Form Instructions: Each group will construct a mock consent form in preparation for administering a survey study. Please see specific instruction on what to include in the group informed consent assignment posted on my website. Please email the completed group work to my Gmail address. The subject line should have your group number only