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Chapter 3: Ethical issues in social research
Voluntary participation No harm to participants Tuskegee experiments Stanford Prison Experiment: students assumed roles as prisoners & guards Psychology classes Study of reporting behavior of HIV-positive population Informed consent: subjects base their voluntary participation in research project with full understanding of risks involved
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Chapter 3: Ethical issues in social research
Anonymity and Confidentiality Anonymity: cannot identify a given respondent Confidentiality: can identify a given respondent but promises not to do so Exxon Valdez survey WSU grad student Rik Scarce in jail for refusing to answer grand jury’s questions that would have violated confidentiality Be careful—courts don’t see the promise as privileged information Remove ID information as soon as practicable
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Chapter 3: Ethical issues in social research, p.2
Deception ex. study of AIDS reporting behavior (Univ. of Del.) ex. Tearoom Trade Researcher acted as “watchqueen” then recorded license plate numbers for follow-up through DMV ex. Milgram’s human obedience (shock) study 2/3 of subjects continued through highest shock level Analysis and reporting: responsibility to colleagues Institutional Review Boards (IRB) See exemption categories on pp from Federal guidelines
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Political issues in social research
Focus on substance and use of research Unlike ethical issues, no formal codes of acceptable political conduct Ideology must not violate objectivity No research is “value-free” But ideology cannot push the research process
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Four lessons regarding political issues in social research
Science in NOT untouched by politics Science manages to proceed in the midst of political controversy & hostility Awareness of ideological enriches the study and practice of social science methods Research must inform public debate FCC and research on JSA’s
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