Chapter 3: Ethical Issues In Social Science Research Review

Which of the following is a challenge that researchers face in keeping data private?

Researchers do not have a legal right to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement in order to protect research subjects *First, in some instances the ethical requirement, and often the legal requirement, is not to maintain confidentiality. Second, unlike priests and lawyers, researchers do not have the legal right to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement in order to protect their research subjects. Third, social scientists can be called to testify in criminal or civil cases. So, if researchers learn about the sale or use of illegal drugs, a person's status as an undocumented immigrant, or other illegal activities and behaviors, and refuse the legal system's request for data, they risk contempt of court and jail time.*

Match each of the three ethics principles outlined in the Belmont Report with the correct definition. 1) Justice 2) Respect 3) Beneficence A) People are to be treated as autonomous agents B) Researchers have a responsibility to do good C) The risks and potential benefits of the research be distributed equally among potential subjects

1) C 2) A 3) B

Match each term with the scenario that best fits. 1) Anonymity 2) Informed consent 3) Privacy 4) Confidentiality A) When participants' identifying information is only accessible to the research team B) Control over the extent, timing, and circumstances of sharing oneself with others C) The freedom to say yes or no to participating in a research study once all the possible risks and benefits have been properly explained D) When no identifying can be linked to respondents and even the researcher cannot identify them

1) D 2) C 3) B 4) A

Dr. Smith has just received research funding from a foundation to examine the effects of attending a charter school on a child's learning, behavior, and future economic prospects. However, the foundation that provided her funding is a charter school advocate and spends millions in pushing a pro-charter school agenda with attempts to get federal legislation passed. What potential risk does this scenario present?

A conflict of interest *If researchers' interests or loyalties compromise the way they design, conduct, or report their research, there is a conflict of interest. Although Dr. Smith has done nothing wrong yet, she may feel compelled to appease the foundation that provided her funding. She also may feel like she needs to show that charter schools have positive effects in order to secure future funding from the foundation.*

Which of the following is an example of deductive disclosure?

A researcher notices that she can figure out an individual's identity by combining four variables in a data set *Deductive disclosure is the use of unique combinations of variables to identify specific individuals in data sets. Researchers must take precautions to ensure deductive disclosure cannot occur with publicly available data. The danger of deductive disclosure is exacerbated by the growing movement in social science research to share data sets across researchers.*

Which group passed a resolution against the Human Terrain System, arguing that the program violated its code of ethics because the U.S. military could use the information gathered on local people against them?

American Anthropological Association *A debate in the pages of the American Anthropologist was heated, with some arguing that the Human Terrain System represented the militarization of anthropology and put all anthropologists at risk because people would suspect them of being spies or of working for the U.S. government.*

One of the most challenging parts of the IRB review process is ____.

Assessing possible risks *Very rarely will social science research lead to physical harm of the subject. The possible harms are much more likely to be emotional or psychological turmoil; economic or social harm resulting from loss of privacy if the confidentiality of data is compromised; or legal risk if research uncovers or documents illegal activities. Emotional upset can occur in interview studies or surveys that ask about traumatic or sad events.*

Three ethical principles were described in the ____ Report of 1979, which forms the foundation of our national system designed to protect humans who take part in medical or social science research.

Belmont *The report was issued by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1979), which was established by Congress when it passed the National Research Act of 1974.*

Which ethical guideline was violated in Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment?

Benefits clearly outweighed harm *Zimbardo later admitted that the research was "unethical because people suffered and others were allowed to inflict pain and humiliation" and that he had become so involved in the experiment that he did not recognize the harm happening to the students. He concluded that he made a mistake and should have stopped the experiment earlier.*

Which activity did Sudhir Venkatesh engage in to conduct his research?

Deception *Venkatesh deceived the people he studied. Even though he told his subjects that he was studying them as a student, he led the gang leader, J.T., to believe that he was writing a biography about him. By playing on J.T.'s sense of self-importance, Venkatesh gained entry into a world of criminal behavior.*

One ____ a bad or evil person to perform unethical research. Many instances of unethical research occur when researchers ____.

Does not have to be; Have not fully thought through the ways in which their research could harm people *Whenever research is conducted with human subjects, one must consider whether or not the research is ethical. Ethics refers to the moral system that determines whether actions are right or wrong, good or bad. One does not have to be a bad or evil person to perform unethical research. On the contrary, many instances of unethical research are the result of well-meaning researchers who have not fully thought through the ways in which their research could harm people.*

Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day used which type of research method?

Ethnography *An ethnography is a scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures.*

Which event lead to the establishment of the Nuremberg Code?

Experiments conducted by the Nazis during World War II *During World War II, the Nazis conducted horrible experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. Denying the humanity of the prisoners, doctors deliberately inflicted pain, suffering, disease, and death on people in gruesome scientific experiments. After the war ended, many of those who conducted the experiments were prosecuted as war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany. The revelations in these trials led to the development of the Nuremberg Code in 1947. This code established the principle that experiments should never be designed to harm participants, and that people must consent to take part in experiments and have the right to withdraw whenever they choose and without penalty. It also established the principle of risk versus benefit analysis to determine whether an experiment should be allowed.*

In 2006, researchers at Harvard University used which social media platform to collect data on students without informing them?

Facebook *Although the researchers had permission from Facebook and Harvard University, the students were not told about the study nor asked if they wanted to participate.*

Which of the following statements about informed consent is true?

Informed consent can be given by signing a form or by agreeing orally *Individuals must have the freedom to say yes or no to being part of a research project, and made aware of all the possible benefits and risks of participation before they consent to participate. In the majority of social science research, the risks are most likely to be social or psychological rather than physical. Social harms include embarrassment, shame, negative self-knowledge, emotional upset, and loss of privacy. Informed consent can be given by signing a form or by agreeing orally.*

In the United States, ____ boards ensure that research adheres to all ethical principles.

Institutional review *Institutional review boards (IRBs) are committees located at institutions where research is conducted, such as universities and colleges, hospitals, and survey research firms. Any institution that receives research money from the federal government, through organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institutes of Health (NIH), must have an institutional review board. This board is responsible for a thorough review of all research conducted at the institution, not just federally funded research. Researchers must receive approval from these boards before they can begin their research.*

Some believe that IRB review ____ ethical behavior in a way that may trick researchers and subjects into thinking that ethical behavior is "taken care of" before the research begins.

Legalizes and bureaucratizes *While getting consent from study participants is important at the outset, consent is actually an ongoing process. Ethnographers, for instance, become accepted in the field and develop real relationships with the people they study. It is important that researchers constantly make sure that people are still willing to be part of a study, even years into the fieldwork, when the people may forget that everything they say and do is fodder for a research project. In this sense, then, "consent" is not completed by an agreement at the beginning of the research but is an ongoing process that must constantly be renegotiated.*

Laud Humphreys's Tearoom Trade study focused on which population?

Men engaging in sex with other men *The study began as an inquiry into homosexual behaviors in public spaces. Some public bathrooms—called "tearooms"—were known as places where men could go to engage in sexual encounters with other men. Humphreys spent time observing these encounters by assuming the role of "watchqueen," a man who looks out for the police while enjoying watching the men in the tearoom.*

Congressional hearings on the ethical concerns of medical and social science studies culminated in the ____, which established the modern IRB system.

National Research Act of 1974 *The IRB reviews and approves all research involving human subjects before the research begins, with the goal of protecting the human subjects and preventing ethical violations in the research. Any institution that receives federal money for research must have an IRB, and it is not unusual for large universities to have IRB offices that employ 10 or more people.*

Which type of research typically does not count as human subjects research because it does not contribute to generalizable knowledge?

Oral histories *In 2003, the Oral History Association issued a policy statement that oral histories are not designed to contribute to generalizable knowledge. Rather, they describe individual lives and thus should be exempt from review. Oral histories are quite similar to in-depth interviews (discussed in Chapter 11). The key distinction for the IRB is whether the interviews are done for research (designed to result in generalizable knowledge) or for preservation of an individual history (defined as not constituting research). The federal Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) has stated that some oral history projects probably do need review and that local IRBs should make the decision on a case-by-case basis.*

In the obedience experiment, subjects were led to believe that they were administering shocks of higher and higher voltage each time a different person answered a question incorrectly. This experiment was conducted by whom?

Stanley Milgram *There is a great deal of debate about whether Milgram's study crossed ethical boundaries. Subjects who participated may have had to live with the knowledge that they could have harmed or even killed people. Milgram conducted a 12-month follow-up study of participants, and less than 1% reported that they regretted taking part in the study (Milgram, 1977). Nevertheless, most scholars agree that no IRB would approve Milgram's study today.*

Justin creates a series of tables using U.S. Census data but hides cells which have fewer than 20 people. What is Justin engaging in?

Suppression *In suppression, data are simply not shown. In cases where tables created with census data would have only a few individuals or businesses in a cell, those cells are not shown; other cells might also be hidden if it would be possible to estimate information on individuals or businesses by subtracting the suppressed cells from the totals. Suppression was first used with the 1980 census results and is now used with a variety of data released from the census and other government surveys.*

Which of the following is a reason why web-based surveys might be ethically problematic?

There is no way to verify a respondent's age *When someone agrees to take part in a web-based survey or experiment, the researcher cannot know for sure whether some participants are actually under the age of 18 (and therefore need parental consent). It is also much more difficult for researchers to know whether the subject has understood the informed consent materials when the process occurs online*

Under which scenario should subjects be debriefed?

When researchers use deception *When a research study involves deception, subjects must be debriefed at the end of the experiment. In debriefing, participants are told the true nature of the study and the reason for the deception.*