Consider the following real and hypotheticalresearch situations. What is the ethical component in each example? How do you feel aboutit? Do you think the procedures described areultimately acceptable or unacceptable? Youmight find discussing some of these situationswith classmates useful.a. A psychology instructor asks students in anintroductory psychology class to completequestionnaires that the instructor will analyze and use in preparing a journal articlefor publication.b. After a field study of deviant behavior during a riot, law enforcement officials demandthat the researcher identify those peoplewho were observed looting. Rather thanrisk arrest as an accomplice after the fact,the researcher complies.c. After completing the final draft of a bookreporting a research project, the researcherauthor discovers that 25 of the 2,000 surveyinterviews were falsified by interviewers. Toprotect the bulk of the research, the authorleaves out this information and publishesthe book.d. Researchers obtain a list of right-wingradicals they wish to study. They contactthe radicals with the explanation that eachhas been selected “at random” from amongthe general population to take a sampling of“public opinion.”e. A college instructor, who wants to test theeffect of unfair berating, administers anhour exam to both sections of a specificcourse. The overall performance of the twosections is essentially the same. The gradesof one section are artificially lowered, however, and the instructor berates the studentsfor performing so badly. The instructor thenadministers the same final exam to bothsections and discovers that the performanceof the unfairly berated section is worse. Thehypothesis is confirmed, and the researchreport is published.f. In a study of sexual behavior, theinvestigator wants to overcome subjects’reluctance to report what they might regardas shameful behavior. To get past theirreluctance, subjects are asked, “Everyonemasturbates now and then; about howmuch do you masturbate?”
Consider the following real and hypothetical
research situations. What is the ethical component in each example? How do you feel about
it? Do you think the procedures described are
ultimately acceptable or unacceptable? You
might find discussing some of these situations
with classmates useful.
a. A psychology instructor asks students in an
introductory psychology class to complete
questionnaires that the instructor will analyze and use in preparing a journal article
for publication.
b. After a field study of deviant behavior during a riot, law enforcement officials demand
that the researcher identify those people
who were observed looting. Rather than
risk arrest as an accomplice after the fact,
the researcher complies.
c. After completing the final draft of a book
reporting a research project, the researcherauthor discovers that 25 of the 2,000 survey
interviews were falsified by interviewers. To
protect the bulk of the research, the author
leaves out this information and publishes
the book.
d. Researchers obtain a list of right-wing
radicals they wish to study. They contact
the radicals with the explanation that each
has been selected “at random” from among
the general population to take a sampling of
“public opinion.”
e. A college instructor, who wants to test the
effect of unfair berating, administers an
hour exam to both sections of a specific
course. The overall performance of the two
sections is essentially the same. The grades
of one section are artificially lowered, however, and the instructor berates the students
for performing so badly. The instructor then
administers the same final exam to both
sections and discovers that the performance
of the unfairly berated section is worse. The
hypothesis is confirmed, and the research
report is published.
f. In a study of sexual behavior, the
investigator wants to overcome subjects’
reluctance to report what they might regard
as shameful behavior. To get past their
reluctance, subjects are asked, “Everyone
masturbates now and then; about how
much do you masturbate?”
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