Research Ethics
No unread replies.
No replies.
I am creating small groups for this discussion post to allow for a more in-depth conversation
Before the creation of institutional review boards (IRBs) in the early 1970s, there were few federal, state, or institutional guidelines governing how scientific research (including research involving human subjects) could be conducted. Laud Humphries did data collection for the Tearoom Trade Study in the late 1960s before these governing boards were in place. IRBs are charged with reviewing research proposals at publicly funded institutions to ensure that research involving human subjects (there are other governing bodies charged with oversight of animal research) is conducted ethically. Please review this brief overview of the study linked below:
https://sites.google.com/a/narrativebioethics.com/emhr/contact/the-tearoom-trade-study-1
(Links to an external site.)
One important detail missing from this brief summary is that Humphries discovered that there were class differences between the men who chose to talk to him after he revealed his identity and those who refused. It was this discovery that led to the decision to collect data covertly.
There are essentially two documents that provide ethical standards that govern research in the social and medical sciences.
The Belmont Report calls for three guiding principles:
1. Respect for persons: individuals have the right of self-determination and should participate in research (psychological or otherwise) only with their consent.
2.Beneficence: The potential benefits of the knowledge gained should outweigh any potential risks.
3. Justice: fairness in both the burdens and benefits of research (i.e. people who participate in research should be the same people who benefit from it. It would be considered a violation of this principle for example to conduct pharmaceutical research on women for a drug that is only of potential benefit to men.
The American Psychological Association (APA) added two additional principles
4. Principle of Integrity- Both participants in psychotherapy and participants in psychological research with the full knowledge of the techniques being used and the research questions being addressed. Deception should only be used as a last resort and when the question under investigation cannot be investigated without using deception.
5. Principle of Fidelity and Responsibility-researchers should hold themselves to a high standard of professional integrity including staying abreast of new developments in the field and giving back to the communities in which they live and work.
In your initial discussion post: please discuss your thoughts and feelings about The Tearoom Trade Study and answer the following questions:
What specific ethical violations did the researchers in this study engage in?
Was this study unethical from the beginning? If yes, why? If no, when did the study become questionable?
Were there any benefits to the study? If so, what were they? Were the risks to participants justified by any of these benefits?
If you served on an IRB would you vote to approve Humphries proposal? Why or why not?
If you are conflicted about the ethics of this study and whether or not it should have been done, what additional information would you like to know to clarify your thoughts and feelings about it?
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|