Codes. Nazis. The need for regulation and codes of behavio

1
Ethical Issues in Research

• Research Methods and Data
• College of Advancing Studies
• Brendan Rapple

2
(No Transcript)
3
McGill University Study

• 1957-60
• Ewan Cameron (McGill U. in Montreal) administered
  psychedelic drugs to 52 unsuspecting patients in
  order to carry out brainwashing experiments for
  the CIA.
• Experiments disclosed publicly for the first time
  in 1977 in the New York Times.
• Not until 1988 that the survivors received
  settlement.

4
Tuskegee Study

• Beginning in the 1930s, 399 men signed up with
  the U.S. Public Health Service for free medical
  care. The service was conducting a study on the
  effects of syphilis on the human body. The men
  were never told they had syphilis. They were told
  they had "bad blood" and were denied access to
  treatment, even for years after penicillin came
  into use in 1947. By the time the study was
  exposed in 1972, 28 men had died of syphilis, 100
  others were dead of related complications, at
  least 40 wives had been infected and 19 children
  had contracted the disease at birth."
• http//www.tuskegee.edu/global/Story.asp?s1211670
  

5
Codes

• Nazis
• The need for regulation and codes of behavior
  emerged from revelations of the research
  atrocities committed by the Nazis.
• Nuremberg Code
• This 1947 code for biomedical research was the
  first to focus on the importance of informed
  consent.
• Helsinki Declaration
• This 1964 declaration provided guidance in such
  areas as the use of animals for research
  purposes.

6

• The American Sociological Association (ASA)
  adopted a formal code of ethics in 1969.
• American Psychological Association (1982)
• The Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Human
  Research with Human Participants
• The National Research Act (1974)
• Passed by Congress for the purpose of protecting
  human subjects participating in experiments.
• Of course, while its essential to have codes,
  the responsibility for ethical research
  ultimately lies with the individual researcher.

7
Ethical Factors

• No Pressure
• Never any pressuring of participants.
• Safety
• Safety of participants essential.
• Credit
• Every researcher must receive precise,
  appropriate credit.
• Communicate
• One should try to make results known to
  participants.
• Ill Usage of Research
• One should be conscious of possible bad uses of
  research.

8
Informed Consent

• Tell participants who is conducting study
• Why was subject singled out for
  participation? e.g. random sample e.g.
  recently given birth to 1st child etc.
• What is the time commitment? e.g. 45 minutes to
  complete the survey
• Any benefits for the participant to be
  expected? Realistically, there are often few
  direct benefits.
• Any potential risks, and how have these been
  managed?
• Information like the following should be
  participated to participants
• Some people may experience negative emotions
  when discussing parental alcoholism. If you
  would like to discuss these with someone, please
  feel free to call the study director at the
  number below.

9
(No Transcript)
10
Informed Consent

• Explain the study and offer to answer questions
• Participation is always voluntary.
• Provide participants with copy of informed
  consent form (if relevant).
• Confidentiality (Anonymity, on the other hand,
  means that no one, including the researcher,
  will know the subjects identity).

11
Sometimes Consent is not Possible

• Fake an assault in the street to gauge reaction
  of bystanders e.g. who will intervene and who
  will do nothing.
• Element of surprise is essential.
• Problem with the preceding
• witnessing such an attack may be very disturbing
  to some.
• Those who do not intervene may be upset and
  suffer feelings of low worth.
• Those who do intervene may be injured.
• Debriefing is mandatory.

12
Informed Consent

• Special Populations and Coercion Difficult for
  some to give true voluntary informed consent
• They might lack necessary competency --children
  --mentally retarded

13
Informed Consent

• Others May be Indirectly CoercedThis is
  WRONG Students Prison Inmates Employees
  Military Personnel The Homeless Welfare
  Recipients

14
Institutional Review Board (IRB)

• Most Colleges/universities have IRBs
• BC has one
• BC Institutional Review Board

15
Questions Asked by IRBs

• About the Investigator
• Who is the primary investigator, and who is
  supervising the study?
• About Research Participants
• What are general characteristics of participants
  (e.g. age, sex etc.)?
• Any special characteristics of participants (e.g.
  children, alcoholics, mentally retarded etc.)?
• Any other institutions/individuals
  cooperating/cosponsoring the study?
• What is general state of health (mental and
  physical) of the participants?
• How will subjects be selected for, or excluded
  from, participation in this study?

16
Questions Asked by IRBs

• Procedure
• What will the subjects be asked to do, or what
  behaviors will be observed by the researchers?
• Will deception be used? If yes, why is it
  necessary?
• What is nature of the deception, and when will
  the debriefing take place?
• Material
• E.g., if electrical or mechanical equipment will
  be used, how has it been checked for safety?

17
Questions Asked by IRBs

• Risks
• Any immediate risks to the subjects, including
  possibly causing them embarrassment,
  inconvenience, or discomfort?
• Are there any long-range risks to the subjects?
• If there are risks, what is the necessity for
  them, and how will subjects be compensated for
  facing such risks?

18
IRBs are very Concerned about Possible
Psychological Harm

• E.g. a project involving interviewing of women
  whove been raped.
• Obviously consent must be obtained.
• Theyre free to withdraw at any time.
• Perhaps have psychological counseling available
  in case of distress.

19
Other Ethical Issues

• One should not cheat, falsify data etc.
• One should not plagiarize.

20
Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is taking anothers work and passing
  it off as your own.
• In a broad sense we are all guilty of plagiarism
  many times each day.
• We often take ideas from others and dont
  attribute them to their original source.
• More often than not we dont even know the
  original source!
• When we talk about the decline and fall of the
  Roman Empire or say, To be or not to be, that is
  the question in normal conversation, we rarely
  attribute the words to Gibbon and Shakespeare
  respectively.

21
Plagiarism in Research is Usually Quite Different

• True plagiarism is, quite bluntly, stealing.
• Sometimes a person just copies text word for word
  from a book or article and pretends that he is
  the author.
• Or buys an already written paper on the web.
• These are quite deliberate aims to deceive.

22
Plagiarism Extends to More than Words

• One should always provide references for any
• statistics
• graphs
• tables
• numbers, etc.
• that one wishes to use in one's own paper.
• Thus, it isnt just the words of another persons
  ideas that one should reference.

23
Copy Direct Quotations Exactly

• Make sure that you write it precisely,
  word-for-word as in the original.
• Also essential that you enclose the quoted text
  in quotation marks.
• Failing to put someone elses direct text in
  quotation marks and crediting the author, may
  lead to accusations of plagiarism.

24
Paraphrasing is often Preferable to Taking Direct
Quotations

• Its often preferable to take down the substance
  of an authors idea in your own words, i.e. to
  paraphrase.
• The greater part of your paper should be in your
  own words with appropriate documentation of the
  ideas of others.
• Of course, some direct quotation is fine but
  always with citation.

25
Plagiarism Sometimes Not Intentional

• Many instances of plagiarism stem from sloppy
  research rather than through a deliberate desire
  to cheat.
• Many students during the research process take
  bad notes, e.g. they write down someone elses
  text verbatim but forget to include the quotation
  marks.
• Later when they are writing the actual paper and
  they refer to their notes, they fail to remember
  that the text is another authors and not their
  own.
• A reader who recognizes the original text might
  think that the student has cheated. And this may
  lead to tough penalties.
• So, the golden rule is to take excellent notes,
  write your whole paper yourself and to document
  your sources as well and as honestly as possible.

26
Common Knowledge and Plagiarism

• It is not necessary to document every single
  statement.
• One need not give a reference for stating that
  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in
  1963.
• This fact is common knowledge and belongs in the
  public domain.
• However, if you are referring to Historian Xs
  thesis that Kennedy was killed by a crime
  syndicate and not by Lee Harvey Oswald, proper
  citation to such a theory is requisite.