CMNS 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Syphilis, Stanford Prison Experiment, Data Management
8 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
1
Ethics and Contemporary Research Practice
Etiquette
• The ustoary ode of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession
or group.
Ethics
• Ethis ais to gie a systeati aout of our judgeets aout odut, i so far as theses
estimate it from the standpoit of right or rog, good or ad. p.1 Dewey and Tufts 1909)
Ethics & Legality – Typology of Legal and Moral Actions in Research
• Ethical: both moral and legal
• Illegal: illegal only
• Unethical: both immoral and illegal
• Legal: immoral only
Why be ethical?
• Personal reasons
• Researchers own scholarly values
• Best practice & rules set by others
o Codes of ethics – professional associations, universities
▪ SFU: code of ethics for faculty, code of ethics for students
o Legislation
o Requirements of Funding Agencies
• Still possible to make mistakes
Stanford Prison Experiment
• Professor Zimbardo at Stanford University in 1971
Debriefing Subjects
• Debriefing: interviewing or exchanging information with subjects following their participation in
a research project to ensure they are both fully informed and not harmed by their participation.
P.67
Stakeholders in research ethics (Who is involved?)
• Researcher
• Scientific community
• The sujets & groups they represent)
• Society/the public
• Sponsors/funding sources
• Legal authorities/government
Historical practices that have influenced contemporary ethical guidelines for researchers
• Idea of human subject protection relatively new
• History: medical & psychological experiments in past used institutionalized subjects or even
experimented on researchers themselves
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2
• Questions about deception: when respondents are misled about either the identity of the
researcher or the nature of the research. (Textbook p.67)
Deception & Injustice: Tuskegee syphilis study
• Although treatets ere aailale, participats i the study did ot reeie the.
o Deception (lies), withholding treatments, racism?
Milgram obedience study: when subjects do things they later may regret
• Illustratio of the setup of a Milgram experiment. The experimenter (E) convinces the subject
Teaher T to gie hat he eliees are painful electric shocks to another subject, who is
atually a ator Learer L. May sujets otiued to gie shoks despite pleas of mercy
from the actors.
Ethical Treatment of Research Subjects: Thinking about Risk of Harm
• Common types of harm:
o Physical harm
o Psychological harm such as stress, loss of self-esteem
o Legal harm
o Other possible forms of harm
▪ Financial, G.P.A., etc.
▪ Creation of inequities
▪ Health - denial of treatment (placebos in experimental research)
▪ Social – loss of friends/family
Ethics & the Scientific Community:
• Codes of Ethics
o Guide, control & regulate members
o Protect researchers from outside pressures
o Protect others from irresponsible practitioners
Ethics & the logic of the research question or hypothesis
• Falsifiability (Karl Popper)
o The aalysts oligatio to the fairess of the process of investigation is basically the
assurance that the projet a fail to ahiee its goals… the design cannot be self-
fulfilling. It has to be possible for the research hypothesis to fail and to fail in a
eaigful ay. p.61 Anderson 2012)
Ethics & choice of research topics: How society & government shape research questions
• Legislation
• Politially orret or safe topics
• Issues:
o Censorship, public opinion
o National security
o Public good
o Funding priorities of government granting agencies
o Control of access to data (gatekeepers)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Etiquette (cid:858)the (cid:272)usto(cid:373)ary (cid:272)ode of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group. (cid:859) Ethics (cid:859)ethi(cid:272)s ai(cid:373)s to gi(cid:448)e a syste(cid:373)ati(cid:272) a(cid:272)(cid:272)ou(cid:374)t of our judge(cid:373)e(cid:374)ts a(cid:271)out (cid:272)o(cid:374)du(cid:272)t, i(cid:374) so far as theses estimate it from the standpoi(cid:374)t of right or (cid:449)ro(cid:374)g, good or (cid:271)ad. (cid:859) (cid:894)p. 1 dewey and tufts 1909) Ethics & legality typology of legal and moral actions in research. Illegal: illegal only: ethical: both moral and legal, unethical: both immoral and illegal. Stanford prison experiment: professor zimbardo at stanford university in 1971. Debriefing subjects: debriefing: interviewing or exchanging information with subjects following their participation in a research project to ensure they are both fully informed and not harmed by their participation. Stakeholders in research ethics (who is involved?) (cid:858)the su(cid:271)je(cid:272)ts(cid:859) (cid:894)& groups they represent: researcher, scientific community, society/the public, sponsors/funding sources. Historical practices that have influenced contemporary ethical guidelines for researchers.
