Ethics in Research

Introduction (p.3-4)

Obedience to Authority Study (p.5-6) Police behavior study (p.7) Ethical issues (p.8)

The Responsibility of the Scientist (p.9) Anonymity and Confidentiality (p.10) Informed Consent (p.11)

Summary (p.12)

Reference (p.13)

Ethical issues arise from the kinds of social scientists investigate and the methods used to obtained valid and reliable data.

They may be evoked by the research problem it self. (e.g., genetic engineering)

Settings in which the research take place (hospital, prison, public school)

The method of data collection (covert participant observation)

The type of person serving as the research participant (the poor, children, politicians, mental patients, people with AIDS)

The type of data collected (sensitive, personal information)

To exemplify these arguments more concretely, let us examine two studies.

Milgram (1963) was interested in researching how far people would go in obeying an instructor if it involved harming other person.

The primary dependent variable in this experiment was obedience – the refusal of the teacher was to follow the instructions of the person in authority

The investigator, who encouraged him to continue to administer the severe shocks to the learner, who continues to make errors or fail to respond.

Reiss found that the risk of violence depended heavily on whether the police encounter was "proactive" or "reactive."

Reiss' quantitative observational method also produced the first systematic sampling of police misconduct. The observers' counts, for example, showed that 14% of the police officers were observed taking bribes or stealing merchandise from burglarized premises.

Deception

Protection of participants

Right to withdrawal

Informed consent is the most general solution to the problem of how to promote social science research without encroaching on individual rights and welfare.

The more serious the risk to research participants, the greater becomes the obligation to obtain informed consent.

The obligations to protect the anonymity of research participants and to keep research data confidential is all-inclusive.

1. Anonymity-requires that the identity of individuals be separated from the information they give

2. Confidentiality- in data collection stages, participants should be given clear, accurate statements about the meaning and limits of confidentiality.

There are a wide informed consensus among social scientist that research involving human participants should be performed with the informed consent of the participants.

When done properly, the consent process ensures that individuals are voluntarily participating in the research with full knowledge of relevant risk and benefits.

Ethical way of researching is much considerate in a way of doing things most critically and fair in the society.

Ethics is about ‘what is right, fair, just, or good: about what we ought to do’

The idea of informed consent derives from both cultural values and legal consideration.

Freedom and self-determination.

Therefore as Social science students, it is important for us to express our knowledge in what we have learnt.

Think Ethically & Act Ethical

Nachmias, C,. F &. Nachmias, D .(1992). RESEARCH METHODS in the SOCIAL SCIENCES (4th edition) : Ethics in Social Science Research. United Kingdom.

The Milgram Experiment, by Saul McLeodpublished 2007

http://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html

YALE Bulletin & Calendar May 19, 2006 | Volume 34, Number 29 | Three-Week Issuehttp://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v34.n29/yalebullcal.gifRetrieved on Tuesday,22 of April,2015