Chapter 3

Milgram's studies did what?

(both on Yale's campus and later off-campus with non-student populations) raised many serious questions on the role of ethics in research, and the treatment of human subjects in research.

Deception must always be...

be justifiable in terms of the importance of the research question.

Institutional Review Board

i. IRBs include members with different backgrounds ii. The Office for Protection from Research Risks in the National Institutes of Health monitors IRBs.

The standard of confidentiality does not apply to

observation in public places or information available in public records.

The Uses of Research

a. Social scientists must consider the uses to which their research will be put. i. It is important for researchers to view their work as a subject for scientific investigation, and not judge it from a moral standpoint. b. Scientists who conduct research for other organizations may face additional difficulties if the organization controls the final report and the publicity it receives, rather than the researcher.

Achieving valid results

Commitment to achieving valid results is the necessary starting point for ethical research

Maintain privacy and confidentiality

Keeping confidentiality is another key ethical standard for protecting research participants, and for ensuring the researcher's commitment to ethical research.

ASA's Code of Ethics states that....

1. Research should cause no harm to subjects. 2. Participation in research should be voluntary, and therefore subjects must give their informed consent to participate in the research. 3. Researchers should fully disclose their identity. 4. Anonymity or confidentiality must be maintained for individual research. 5. Benefits from a research project should outweigh any foreseeable risks. a. There is no simple answer to the question: What "is" or "isn't" ethical research practice?

Avoid harming research participants

Researchers must do everything in their power to avoid harming subjects, and must ensure that the possible benefits from research outweigh any possible risks to human subjects.

Protecting research participants is covered under what regulation

The ASA's Code of Ethics (1997) includes both federal regulations and ethical guidelines for ethical research

Can children give or withhold assent?

Yes. and legal guardians must then give written consent for children to participate.

Development of formal ethics procedures

i. Grew out of widely publicized human rights abuses: -1946 - Nuremberg War Crime Trials -1930's - 1970's - Tuskegee Syphilis Study ii. These human rights violations led to the creation of a National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research.

. The American Sociological Association (ASA) has adopted ethics guidelines that are

more specific than the federal regulations.

Deception

when subjects are misled about research procedures to determine how they would react to the treatment if they were not research subjects.

If deception is used in a study, then...

the research must debrief participants afterwards - they must explain to the participants what happened in the experiment and why, and respond to questions.

Commission's "Belmont Report" of 1979 established what?

three basic ethical principles for protection of human subjects.

There are also special protections for research involving

1) prisoners, 2) pregnant women, 3) mentally disabled persons, and 4) educationally or economically disadvantaged persons.

Milgram's Obedience Studies

Began at Yale University in 1960; randomly assigned participants to either a "teacher" or "learner" role, and observed how much pain the "teachers" were willing to administer to the "learner" at the insistence of an authority figure.

Honesty and openness -what is required for this

Concerns about validity require that researchers be open in disclosing their methods, and honest in presenting their findings. 1. The act of publication is also a vital element in maintaining openness and honesty

Obtain informed consent

Consent may only be given by people who are: 1) competent to consent, 2) have consented voluntarily, 3) are fully informed about the research, and 3) have comprehended what they have been told.

HIPAA did what

Created much more stringent regulations for the protection of health care data. i. Requires that researchers have valid authorization for any use or disclosure of "protected health information" from a health care provider.

Every institution that seeks federal funds for research on human subjects must...

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) passed when?

Passed by Congress in 1996

Children cannot legally give consent to participate in research. True or False

True

Ethical Principles

a. Achieving valid results b. Honesty and openness c. Protecting research participants i. Avoid harming research participants ii. Obtain informed consent iii. Avoid deception in research, except in limited circumstances iv. Maintain privacy and confidentiality

The basic ethical principles established by "Belmont Report" .

a. Respect for persons: treating persons as autonomous agents and protecting those with diminished authority. b. Beneficence: minimizing possible harms and maximizing benefits. c. Justice: distributing benefits and risks of research fairly.