Chapter 4: Ethics and Research

Activity 4.1: Ethical or Not?

Activity 4.2: Some Ethical Dilemmas

Activity 4.3: Violations of Ethical Practice

Activity 4.4: Why Would These Research Practices Be Unethical?

Activity 4.5: Is It Ethical to Use Prisoners as Subjects?

Activity 4.1:
Ethical or not?

In this activity, you are to pair up with another student to discuss each of the following.
Then report your conclusions to the class.

1. A professional sex therapist in a large Midwestern city is interested in obtaining

more information about the sexual preferences of both heterosexual and
homosexual men. He designs a questionnaire that includes a number of highly
personal questions and asks a professor at a nearby university to administer it to
the students in her introductory psychology class. All of the students in the class
are required to complete the questionnaire. Is there an ethical problem here?

2. The spread of AIDS (acquired immune-deficiency syndrome) has brought about a

considerable amount of research into the effectiveness of various drugs that
control the disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration restricted the
distribution of these drugs until they were clinically tested. During the tests, some
AIDS patients would receive these drugs (the experimental group) while others
(the control group would not. Some members of the control group even received a
placebo. AIDS patients strongly objected, saying this was unethical. Were they
justified in doing so? Why or why not? Is there an ethical dilemma here?

3. In the summer of 1972, newspapers around the country revealed that for 40 years
the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) had been conducting a study to investigate
the effects of untreated syphilis on black males in Macon County, Alabama.
Public Health Service physicians had administered a variety of blood tests and
regular examinations to 399 men who were in various stages of the disease and to
200 others who were in a control group. The study was limited strictly to
compiling data on the effects of syphilis and not on ways to treat the disease.
The participants were never told the purpose of the study or for what they
were or were not being treated. No drugs were ever used with these men. A PHS
nurse who was monitoring the participants informed local physicians as to who
was participating in the study and informed them that they were not to be treated
for syphilis. In fact, some of the participants who were offered treatment by other
physicians were told they would be dropped from the study if they took the
treatment.
The participants were never aware of the danger to which they were
exposed by the study. Furthermore, no effort was ever made to explain their
situation to them. In fact, they were enticed with a variety of incentives to
participate, such as hot meals, free treatment for other ailments, free rides to and
from the clinic, even a $50 burial stipend.
What ethical standards were violated in this study?
Activity 4.2:
Some Ethical Dilemmas

1. A psychologist conducts the following experiment: A team of subjects plays a game of

skill against a computer for money rewards. Unknown to the subjects, one team member
is a stooge whose stupidity causes the team to lose regularly. The experimenter observes
the subjects through one-way glass. Her intent is to study the behavior of the subjects
toward the “stupid” team member.
This experiment involves no risk to the subjects and is intended simply to create
the kind of situation that might occur in any pickup basketball game. To create the
situation, the subjects are deceived. Is this deception morally objectionable? Explain your
position.

2. Almost all clinical trials that have studied the effects of such factors as blood
cholesterol, taking aspirin, or exercise on heart attacks have used middle-aged male
subjects. Women’s groups have complained that this leads to better health information
about men that about women. The researchers reply that in order to get clear results in the
five years or so that such a study lasts, they must choose their subjects from the groups
that are most likely to have heart attacks. That points to middle-aged men. What would
you suggest?

3. The information given to potential subjects in a clinical trial before asking them to
decide whether or not to participate might include:

a. The basic statement that an experiment is being conducted; that is, something
beyond simply treating your medical problem will occur in your therapy.
b. A statement of any potential risks from any of the experimental treatments.
c. An explanation that a coin will be tossed to decide which treatment you get.
d. An explanation that one “treatment” is a placebo and a statement of the
probability that you will receive the placebo.

Do you feel that all of this information is ethically required? Discuss.

Activity 4.3:
Violations of Ethical Practice

Listed below in Column A are a number of violations of ethical practice. Match the letter
of the violation from Column B with the example listed in Column A to which the
violation refers.

Column A: Practice Column B: Ethical violation

1. ______ Researcher requires a group of a. Protecting participants from

high school sophomores to sign a form in
which they agree to participate in a
research study.
2. ______ Researcher asks first-graders
sensitive questions without obtaining the
consent of their parents to question them.
3. ______ Researcher deletes data he collects
that does not support his hypothesis.
harm.
b. Ensuring confidentiality of
research data.
c. Deception of subjects.
d. Right of an individual to
participate or withdraw from
a study at any time.

4. ______ Researcher gives information to e. Reporting accurately the

students to see whether it increases their results of a research
stress when taking an examination. investigation.

5. ______The teachers in a study of punitive f. Coercion of subjects.

practices are told that it is their students
who are being observed. g. Parental permission.
Activity 4.4:
Why Would These Research Practices Be Unethical?

Figure 4.2 in Chapter 4 in the text presents a number of individuals describing unethical
research practices. Working with a partner, in the space provided below, explain why
each of the statements suggests something that would be unethical.

1. “We are required to ask you to sign this consent form. You needn’t read it; it’s
just routine.”
__________________________________________________________________
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2. “A few cases seemed quite different from the rest, so we deleted them”
__________________________________________________________________
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3. “Yes, as a student at this university you are required to participate in this study.”
__________________________________________________________________
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4. “There is no need to tell any of the parents that we are modifying the school lunch
diet for this study.”
__________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________

5. “Requiring students to participate in class discussions might be harmful to some,

but it is necessary for our research.”
__________________________________________________________________
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Activity 4.5:
Is It Ethical to Use Prisoners as Subjects?

1. Discuss the following question: What might be some arguments for and against
using prison inmates as the subjects in a research study?

Argument For Argument Against

Problem Sheet 4: Ethics and Research

1. My research question is: ________________________________________________

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2. The possibilities for harm to participants (if any) are as follows: _________________
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I would handle these problems as follows: __________________________________

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3. The possibilities of problems of confidentiality (if any) are as follows: ____________

_____________________________________________________________________
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I would handle these problems as follows: __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
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4. The possibilities of problems of deception (if any) are as follows: _______________

_____________________________________________________________________
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I would handle these problems as follows: __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
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5. In which IRB category (I, II, or III) do you think your proposed study should be
considered? State why.
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