Research Methods Midterm 1

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Reasons for ethics guidelines

Back 1

-human beings often behave differently when they are being studied
-want to describe people in their natural habitat

-attempts to create valid conditions, can lead scientists to engage in practices that may be questioned on ethical grounds

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Historical background

prior to world war 2

Back 2

-there was little concern for treatment of humans in research

-lack of awareness

-no formal protections existed

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World War 2 atrocities

Josef Mengele

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-unethical treatment of prisoners in Nazi concentration camps

-JM: tried to create the perfect human (blue eyes)

-at concentration camps- forced prisoners to take part in these experiments

-he escaped

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World War 2

Why Nuremberg code was created

Back 4

-people who did studies like JM were taken to trial

-Led to the creation of the Nuremberg code

-creation of standards for researchers/physicians

-brought to life the importance of ethics

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Nuremberg code

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1.voluntary consent (people need to agree before performing experiments on them)

2.results for betterment of society

3.avoid unnecessary physical/mental suffering

4.consider benefits given risks (have a sense of the potential benefits of research, and look if the good outweighs the bad)

5.conducted by qualified scientists (trained on ethical conduct)

6.subjects should be able to stop participation (pay them still)

7.scientists must be prepared to stop experiment if necessary

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Post-Nuremberg code

Tuskegee Syphilis study (1932-1972)

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-600 low-income African-American males recruited: 399 infected with syphilis

-participants given free medical exams and meals and burial insurance, but not told about the disease

-physicians told participants they were being treated for "bad blood"

-cure for syphilis= penicillin, discovered in 1947

-physicians deliberately denied men treatment for syphilis, and prevented treatment for other sources

-when leaked to press- stopped because of pressure- not ethical reasons

-PROBLEMS: deception, did not fully understand what they were consenting too

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Milgram Obedience study (early 1960's)

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-advertised for a study of "memory and learning"

-actually interested in obedience (deception)

-procedure: one "teacher" (participant) and one "learner" (study confederate)

-told they were studying word pairs

-when the learner made a mistake, the teacher was to administer an electric shock

-participants were given 45 volts to sample

-went from 15 volts to 450 volts (labelled "slight shock" to "danger severe shock XXX"

-participant hears learner screaming in pain

-participant can stop, but is urged to continue

-results

-experts predicted less than 2% would obey the orders and go all the way

-65% of subjects actually went all the way

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Deceptions of the Milgram study

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-learner is not a subject

-electrical shocks not really being applied

-learner's screams of pain are not real

-experiment is not really about memory

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Important ethical questions

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-is it right to withhold information from participants if you think that full closure will bias responses?

-are you justified in misleading participants by using a deception if misleading them is necessary to study important issues?
-is it permissible to invade the privacy of participants if there is no other way to gather essential facts?

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Ethical research: Basic goals

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-protect participant from physical and psychological harm (participation in behavioral research may produce emotional reactions... these reactions may have long-term, negative outcomes)

-provide freedom about participating in research

-honestly describe the nature and use of the research

-maintaining awareness of the power differentials between researcher and participant

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Single-trial classical conditioning

-Campbell, Sanderson, and Laverty (1964)

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-paired auditory tone with respiratory paralysis

-subjects reported experience as horrific

-learning not not extinguish, but rather repeated presentations of tone

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Tearoom Trade study (mid 1960s)

-Laud Humphreys

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-PhD thesis

-tearoom trade: impersonal sex in public places

-goal: understand the rationale and classification for particular sexual behaviors

-establish characteristics/motivations for the men

-recorded the licence plate numbers to get identification information

-altered him appearance, contacted the men and interviewed them in their home for a study concerning health issues

-over 50% were "upstanding" citizens- heterosexual males with wives at home

-lacked informed consent, deception used

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Informed consent:

the form explains.....

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-the procedure of the research

-who is conducting it

-how the results will be used

-what to expect during the research

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Informed consent:

the participant is....

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-informed of his/her rights, including the freedom to leave the project at any point

-given the opportunity to ask questions

-signs the form indicating that he or she has read and understood the information

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Challenges with informed consent

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-participants may change their behavior (not "real", not generalizable)

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Selection bias

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-changes who participants are in a study

-not generalizable

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Honesty describing research

Deception

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-occurs when research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating

-has been lots of deception in social psych

-undermines information consent

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Alternatives

Simulation study & problems

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-participants are fully informed about the nature of the research and asked to behave as if they were in social setting of interest

-may not reflect reality

-may still produce unethical activity

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Debriefing

Post experimental interview

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-participants reactions are assessed

-participants may be asked to express their thoughts about the research

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Debriefing

Suspicion check

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-determines if participants believed the experimental manipulation or guessed the research hypothesis

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Debriefing

Process debriefing

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-an active attempt to undo any changes that might have occurred

-if it is often impossible to entirely undo the effects of experimental manipulations

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Other ethical issues (3)

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-privacy/ confidentiality (anonymity)

-special populations (children, patients)

-animal research (should we do animal research?)

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Replicating the Milgram study

Burger (2007)

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-stopped procedure at 150 voltage mark

-79% of Milgram's participants who continued past 150 volts, went all the way (450 volts)

-stopped at this juncture avoided intense stress

-looked at old study, and looked for ways to change it

-exclude individuals who might have a negative reaction to the experience (psychological disorders, psychotherapy, psychopharmacoligical meds, ever experienced serious trauma)

-measured anxiety and depression, looked at by clinical psychologists

-told at least three times that they can withdraw from the study at any time and still receive their 50$ in participation

-gave a smaller sample shock (with consent)

-15 volt not 45 (less painful)

-immediate debrief

-same results

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Ensuring research is ethical

Ethics is determined through a cost-benefit analysis

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-is the potential costs of the research appear to outweigh any potential benefits, then the research should not proceed

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Ensuring research is ethical

Research Ethics Board (REB)

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-determines whether proposed research meets required regulations

-group of people who review every single research study that is going to be conducted; decide if the costs of the research outweigh the potential benefits, or say it's not good enough

-work through potential problems with researchers

-main way we determine whether the research were doing won't harm the subjects

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Ensuring research is ethical

Institutional practices

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-example: observing behavioral or medical anomalies

-look at brain and behavior, look at neural activity, what parts are active at certain times

-helping us to ensure that we conduct our selves ethically

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Ensuring research is ethical

Researcher's own ethics

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-knowledge of ethics, make sure that way they behave goes alone with the ethical standards

-up to the researcher to make sure what they are doing is proper

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Modern challenges

Facebook study of emotional contagion

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-experimental evidence of massive scale emotional contagion through social networks

-small emotion, spreads out and develops

-never got consent from their subjects

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Modern challenges

Sweepstakes life Japan

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-Nasubi, the naked eggplant-man (face looked like an eggplant) who lived off sweepstakes winnings for reality TV

-reality TV show, put him in a room with just necessities, no clothes, no food, phone receiving calls, but not making calls

-can he use the ads in the magazine to live off of

-pressure him to stay

-brought him to Japan to celebrate after a year was up then put him in another room until he got enough money to get back

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Modern Challenges

CIA/APA torture studies

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-psychological researchers helped the CIA improve their torture techniques

-earned up to 81 million$ for their help

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Reporting research results

Scientific fraud

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-conveying results we didn't actually observe

-occurs when a scientist intentionally alters or fabricates data

-must take step to correct errors

-research assistants are usually the ones turning them in

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Bramel, 1962

Students told they had homosexual tendencies

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-false data

-revealed it was false later, still could have experiences psychological stress

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Participants privacy

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-confidentiality of the data they contribute

-use fictional names in research reports

-all data should be kept anonymous

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Simulation studies

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-participants are fully informed about the nature of the research and asked to behave as if they were in a social setting of interest

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Stanford prison study

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-college students were asked to play a role in either the prisoner or prison guard

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Using animals as research participants

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-mainly rats, mice, and birds

-gains understanding on drugs and psychological causes of depression, phobias, stress, and illnesses

-ethical concerns about using animals

-costs and benefits of research project

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The institutional review board

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-the US department of Health and Human services regulations require that all universities receiving funds from the department set up an institutional review board (IRB) to determine whether proposed research meets department regulations

-to gain approval, scientist submits a written application to the IRB requesting permission to conduct research

-proposal must include a description of the experimental procedure and, if the research uses human participants, an explanation of how informed consent will be obtained and how participants ill be debriefed

-may suggest modifications to procedures or tell people that they cannot conduct the study

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The researcher's own ethics

Back 38

-the ultimate responsibility lies with the investigator

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Correctly and honestly reporting research

Back 39

-ethical behavior in science includes honesty not only in conducting research, but also in reporting and giving proper credit for ideas

-science is based on truth, and scientists are expected to be truthful in all aspects of their research

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Scientific fraud

Back 40

-when a scientist intentionally alters or fabricates data