BE-5305 Ethics in Research

What do we mean by Ethics? Ethics – “conforming to the standards of conduct of a given profession or group” Unfortunately ethics is not absolute – there is no total right or total wrong There is only individual perception and societal agreement – this can change

Voluntary Participation Social research is by necessity invasive Subjects are often called upon to reveal personal or embarrassing information In an effort to be more ethical participants in an experimental situation should always do so voluntarily There are questions here too: Experimental drugs are often tested on prisoners – they receive information instructing them that they will not receive any special treatment or privileges in efforts to obtain voluntary compliance They are also told that they can freely refuse to participate Some question this – with respondents being imprisoned is there really such a thing as voluntary participation?

No Harm Ethical social research should seek to never cause any harm whatsoever to participants – like a doctor, ‘do no harm’ Simple, huh? Not really There are instances where participants are required to do uncomfortable things (watch violent videos or pornographic images). This could cause some psychological trauma – is that harm? Sometimes subjects are asked questions concerning illegal behavior – this could cause severe harm to subjects’ jobs, homes, families In an effort to ensure confidentiality subjects receive informed consent. Informed consent means that subjects must base their decision to participate in the experiment on a full understanding of any possible risks involved Subjects will not be given all of the essential processes of the experiment but they will be given enough to form a valid, educated decision

Anonymity & Confidentiality To protect subjects research experiments will provide anonymity – results cannot or will not identify participants. This can complicate a project but it protects subjects and increases ethics – at times it can be difficult to determine who has or has not been subjected to terms of the experiment (surveys or questionnaires) Ethical research projects also guarantee confidentiality – only the researcher will be able to determine a given subject’s responses Anonymous and confidential do not necessarily mean the same thing Confidential means secret – only the researcher can identify individual responses but promises not to do so publicly Anonymous means subjects cannot be identified by anyone

Deception Deceiving people is considered by most to be unethical Yet in social research there are times when deception is necessary Researchers who utilize participant observation while studying a group deceive the group Rather like an undercover cop a social researcher studying…motorcycle gangs imbeds himself in their culture without them ever knowing who or what he is Debriefing – interviewing subjects after the experiment is concluded Subjects are told more about the experiment, its purpose, and the uses of any results Debriefing is especially important in experimental situations where there is a possibility of some damage to subjects

Analysis & Reporting Ethics dictate that a research be honest with results Students often question whether researchers make up data or fake it Ethically the answer is no – this has happened, though A researcher caught faking it will loose all of their reputation and will never be able to get anything published

Legal liability 2 types of unique ethical dilemmas that expose researchers to potential legal liability 1. consider the situation where a researcher is collecting data on crime that goes unreported to police Example provided in the text…collecting data on prostitution. This might be seen by police (if it became known what ‘you’ were doing) as obstruction of justice This is a serious charge!

Legal liability 2. consider another situation where a researcher is conducting participant observation research and gets drawn into criminal activity as a by-product of their observations Example: I study illegal car racers…and I infiltrate one of the racer clubs and became involved in situations where crimes occur I could subject myself to liability as an accessory to a host of criminal activities

Special problems Staff misbehaviour While conducting applied research researchers might come across irregular or illegal practices by staff in public agencies. For example, police misconduct or brutality… The researcher is then faced with the ethical question of whether to report such behavior Reporting of such activity might jeopardize the research

Special Problems Research Causes Crime There are those research projects that have the potential to increase some types of crime For example, in studies of crime prevention programs it is very possible crime simply moves to another location, away from the prevention program.

Special Problems Mandatory Reporting In some types of research researchers might feel compelled to report some instances of criminal behavior Family violence, incest, rape, battery, abuse… If the researcher reports the behavior it violates the rule of confidentiality If the researcher fails to report the behavior it violates the do no harm or protection of human subjects rule…and maybe the law