1. Boundaries to research
Ethics in Science
Boundaries to research

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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?

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. 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?

13. 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)

14. 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?

15. 4.4 Ethical Issues and Scientific Integrity
Integrity and Accuracy of Scientific Reporting
Fraud
Plagiarism

16. 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”)

17. 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

18. 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 the completed group work to my Gmail address. The subject line should have your group number only