1. What are the benefits and the costs of a value-free approach to science? What are the benefits and the costs of a value-laden approach? Which approach do you endorse?
Those who believe in the value-free approach follow the idea that scientists should be seeking the truth without regard to any personal interests or concerns and should also not be concerned with what their discovered knowledge will be used for. Followers of the value-laden approach believe discovery should only be used to change society for the better. Followers of both see the other group as not using discovery for its true purpose. One benefit of the value-free approach is that knowledge is being discovered just for the sake of being discovered. However, value-free comes …show more content…
If a subject knows they are being watched for a certain thing, they aren’t going to give their natural reaction, but rather perform for the researchers. For example, if a researcher is testing the bystander effect and the subjects are told beforehand, they are more likely to help a person who’s hurt versus participating in the bystander effect without knowing that’s what the experiment was about. However, I definitely believe there are some places where deception could cause harm. The Milgram Experiment is a great example of deception in a study and although the results are fascinating and the majority of participants reported a positive experience in this study, I don’t think it’s something I would’ve been able to handle. I don’t agree with tricking someone into thinking they are dead or that they seriously harmed someone, because I believe that could cause some major psychological harm. “Researchers should use deception carefully because it can lead participants to lose trust in social scientists [and] placing participants in situations where they are encouraged to engage in antisocial activities may induce feelings of guilt, shame, or inferiority” (Franzoi, 2016, p. 43). Although there are some extreme forms of deception I disagree with, I expect researchers not to tell the whole truth at the beginning of an experiment and later debrief the subject to assure the most accurate
Those who believe in the value-free approach follow the idea that scientists should be seeking the truth without regard to any personal interests or concerns and should also not be concerned with what their discovered knowledge will be used for. Followers of the value-laden approach believe discovery should only be used to change society for the better. Followers of both see the other group as not using discovery for its true purpose. One benefit of the value-free approach is that knowledge is being discovered just for the sake of being discovered. However, value-free comes …show more content…
If a subject knows they are being watched for a certain thing, they aren’t going to give their natural reaction, but rather perform for the researchers. For example, if a researcher is testing the bystander effect and the subjects are told beforehand, they are more likely to help a person who’s hurt versus participating in the bystander effect without knowing that’s what the experiment was about. However, I definitely believe there are some places where deception could cause harm. The Milgram Experiment is a great example of deception in a study and although the results are fascinating and the majority of participants reported a positive experience in this study, I don’t think it’s something I would’ve been able to handle. I don’t agree with tricking someone into thinking they are dead or that they seriously harmed someone, because I believe that could cause some major psychological harm. “Researchers should use deception carefully because it can lead participants to lose trust in social scientists [and] placing participants in situations where they are encouraged to engage in antisocial activities may induce feelings of guilt, shame, or inferiority” (Franzoi, 2016, p. 43). Although there are some extreme forms of deception I disagree with, I expect researchers not to tell the whole truth at the beginning of an experiment and later debrief the subject to assure the most accurate