Ethics and Socially Sensitive Research

Ethics Key Terms:

• Consent:

  • The participants must give permission to take part knowing the study's true aims and what they are expected to do. This is not always convenient, and there are ways around this

• Right to Withdraw:

  • Participants must have the option to leave the study and withdraw all of their data at any time

• Protection from harm:

  • Participants must not experience any more harm than they would in everyday life. E.g. severe embarrassment would be considered psychological harm as would distress

• Confidentiality:

  • All information collected must be published in a way that does not identify the participant. From the researcher’s perspective, this is difficult, but they can promise anonymity. From the participants’ point it is a legal requirement

• Deception:

  • This is when participants have told a false purpose for the research. This is sometimes needed to prevent participants from acting in an unnatural

• Privacy:

  • Some research makes it hard not to invade participants’ privacy. E.g. observing someone in a shop. Participants may not mind being observed in public places but it would be unacceptable to observe them in their private home

Ethical implications:

• The impact that psychological research has in terms of the rights of other people

• Example:

  • Zimbardo’s prison experiment has also been criticised for being highly unethical due to the distress caused to the participants. The observable Psychological harm experienced was so extreme to the extent that the research had to be stopped early as a result of the psychological distress presented by the participants who were in the role of the prisoner

Socially sensitive research:

• Any research that has direct social consequences for participants in research or the group represented

When do ethical issues arise?

• When there is a conflict between psychological needs for validity and valuable research and preserving the dignity and that of participants

Can wider ethical implications of research be predicted?

• They cannot influence how society sees the research

What are the ethical issues of Milgram?

• Milgram’s research has several ethical issues as participants in his research into obedience were highly deceived and were unable to give fully informed consent. The research methodology caused distress, and the participants did not feel as if they could withdraw. The participants were debriefed afterwards, and there were follow-up interviews; however, the results of the research may have affected the participants as they may have found the fact that they obeyed authority with the potential to cause another individual harm difficult to accept

Bowlby:

• Bowlby’s theory of attachment and monotropy suggests that children form one special attachment bond, and this is usually with the mother. This attachment must be formed within a critical period. Bowlby also suggested that this can form an internal working model for future relationships

• This led to:

  • Ethical implications as it argues that a woman’s role is to be the primary caregiver in the home, which may make women feel guilty for wanting to or returning to work. This can also have implications for fathers who may be discouraged to be the caregiver, or this may cause single-parent fathers concern over their ability to form an attachment

Social Sensitivity:

• Socially sensitive research is any research in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for participants or for the class of individuals represented by the research

• For example, Bowlby’s work on attachment was used to justify why women should stay at home and look after the children

Sieber and Stanley (areas where social sensitivity is important):

• Sieber and Stanley (1988) used the term social sensitivity to describe studies where there are potential social consequences for the participants or the group of people represented by the research

• Sieber and Stanley (1988) identified 4 aspects in the scientific research process that raise ethical implications in socially sensitive research:

  1. The Research Question: The researcher must consider their research question carefully. Asking questions like ‘Are there racial differences in IQ?’ or ‘Is intelligence inherited?’ may be damaging to members of a particular group

  2. The Methodology Used: The researcher needs to consider the treatment of the participants and their right to confidentiality and anonymity. For example, if someone admits to committing a crime or to having unprotected sex if they are HIV positive, should the researcher maintain confidentiality?

  3. The Institutional Context: The researcher should be mindful of how the data is going to be used and consider who is funding the researcher. If the research is funded by a private institution or organisation, why are they funding the research, and how do they intend to use the findings?

  4. Interpretation and Application of Findings: Finally, the researcher needs to consider how their findings might be interpreted and applied in the real world. Could their data or results be used to inform policy?

Example:

• Also, any research linking intelligence to genetic factors can be seen as socially sensitive. For example, Cyril Burt used studies of identical twins to support his view that intelligence is largely genetic. His views greatly influenced the Hadow Report (1926), which led to the creation of the 11+, which was used from 1944 to 1976. This meant that generations of children were affected by the 11+ exam, even though there has been huge controversy regarding whether Burt had falsified his research data

Evaluation:

1. Socially sensitive research has benefited society in that research into the unreliability of eyewitness testimony has reduced the risk of miscarriages of justice

   • Therefore these studies can promote understanding and reduce prejudice, and encourage acceptance

2. If we understand that socially sensitive research has ethical implications when we can try to prevent damage from the research

   • Such research has been used by governments to frame social policy.

   • An example is Burt’s research into IQ leading to establishing the 11+ exams.

   • Example: Packard claimed sales of Coca-Cola and popcorn increased when subliminal messages where shown

   • Such research seeks to manipulate the public and another question that arises from such dubious research is who actually benefits from it once published.

3. Knowing the ethical implications of socially sensitive research has helped understand that researchers need to carefully frame their questions and approach their research with an open mind. This is because the way that research questions are phrased and investigated can influence the ways in which the findings are represented.

   • Example: research into alternative relationships is sometimes guilty of heterosexual bias because homosexual relations are judged against heterosexual norms.

4. A limitation of socially sensitive research is that it may be used for social control and could lead to unethical practices.

   • e.g in the 20s and 30s a number of US states introduced legislation regarding the compulsory sterilisation of those deemed "low intelligence, drug addicts or mentally ill"

5. Research that is socially sensitive is scrutinised by an ethics committee that weighs up the pros and cons.

   • However, this assessment may be subjective, and when researching vulnerable groups, it is difficult to research. The real impact of research can only be known when the findings are public