Ethics in Experimental Research

1
Ethics in Experimental Research

• Showing concern for the welfare of human subjects

2
Horror Stories

• Tuskegee syphilis study of 1932
• Stanley Milgrams conformity research of 1963
• commercially funded, for profit research
  (2001) conflicts of interest and the file
  drawer problem
• Pharmaceutical manufacturers outsourcing drug
  trials to poor countries with lax standards
  (2004)
• U.S. energy Dept. and radiation tests on
  civilians (1970s)
• LSD and the CIAs MK Ultra program (1973)

3
Radioactive oatmeal!

• More than 100 boys living in an orphanage were
  fed Quaker Oats with radioactive iron and calcium
  in the 1950's.
• The diet was part of an experiment to prove that
  the nutrients in Quaker oatmeal travel throughout
  the body.
• A class action settlement for 1.85 million was
  reached in 1998

4
The atomic veterans

• During and after WWII, American soldiers were
  forced to observe nuclear blasts within 50 miles
  of ground zero.
• Thousands of these soldiers later died of
  leukemia and other rare forms of cancer.
• Their families were barred from suing the federal
  government

5
Wendell Johnsons diagnosogenic theory of
stuttering

• The Monster Study
• In 1938, Wendell Johnson and Mary Tudor trained
  orphans to be more conscious of small speech
  errors.
• Johnsons theory was that punishing fluency
  errors made them worse.
• All five stutterers in the test group showed
  increased stuttering five out of six of the
  normal children exhibited worse fluency.
• The experiment, referred to by some as the
  Monster Experiment turned some of the children
  into lifelong stutterers despite later efforts to
  reverse the damage.

6
Cloning Fraud

• 2005 South Korean researcher, Woo Suk Hwang,
  fabricated evidence that he had successfully
  cloned human embryos.
• The journal Science, retracted two studies he had
  published.

7
Outsourcing clinical trials

• The price of bringing a new drug to market is
  about 1 million per day
• Much of that cost is devoted to human clinical
  trials
• western drug makers are outsourcing safety and
  efficacy studies to developing countries, a large
  proportion of them to India and Russia.
• There are currently some 400 clinical trials
  underway in India

8
Ethical matrix for social science research
Good ends Bad ends
Good means Ethical research Subjective ethic (backfires)
Bad means Machiavellian research Unethical research
9
Belmont report

• Autonomy
• Free-choice, no pressure to participate,
• consideration of at risk groups or individuals
  persons with diminished autonomy
• Beneficence
• do no harm, ensure the well-being of
  participants
• Justice
• fair distribution of risks and benefits of
  research
• subject recruitment, selection
• subject compensation

10
How common is research misconduct?

• More than 1 percent of scientists report direct
  knowledge of an instance of misconduct. Elliot
  (2000). How prevalent is fraud? Thats a
  multi-million dollar question. Science, 290, pp.
  1662-1663
• Motivations include
• tenure and promotion
• pressure to publish or perish
• lucrative grants, patents
• fame, notoriety, prestige

11
Fraud in scientific research

• Intentional fraud
• Cyril Burts research on monozygotic
  twinsfudging the results of IQ tests
• William Summerlins cancer researchfaked results
  of tumor shrinkage

• Unintentional fraud
• Weitzmans research on women's and men's incomes
  following divorceblamed computer error for
  erroneous results
• Pons and Fleischmann's research on cold
  fusioncouldnt be replicated by other researchers

12
No harm to the participants

• minimizing psychological risks
• Example simulations that accentuate racist,
  sexist, or homophobic attitudes
• minimizing physical risks
• Example behavioral psychologists penchant for
  shocking subjects in the 60s and 70s
• showing concern for the welfare of participants
• Example Stanley Milgrams conformity research

13
Voluntary informed consent

• Before conducting any research using human
  participants, a participants voluntary informed
  consent must first be obtained
• Voluntary the subject willingly agrees to
  participate in the study, and is free to withdraw
  at any time without penalty
• Informed the subject is aware of any risks
  (physical or psychological) associated with
  participating
• Consent the subjects consent is unambiguous,
  e.g., a signed permission form (no such things as
  implied consent)

14
Exceptions to the consent requirement

• Low-risk anonymous survey
• Observations gathered in public places
• Information in the public domain

15
Failure to obtain informed consent

• Kinchs study on the Pygmalion effect
• Problems associated with using freshman in
  experimental research
• Can students under 18 legally give their consent?
• Should participation in experiments be a course
  requirement?
• Ethics of participant-observation
• Going under cover to study groups may violate
  their rate to privacy

16
Deception and the use of cover stories

• Elms (1982) recommends the following strictures
  for the use of deception in experimental
  research
• As a last resort When there is no other feasible
  way to obtain the desired information
• example studies on student cheating
• When the benefits substantially outweigh the
  risks
• example controlled double-blind studies on drug
  efficacy
• When subjects are given the option to withdraw at
  any time, without penalty
• When any physical or psychological harm is
  temporary
• When subjects are debriefed and the research
  procedures are made available for public review

17
Privacy concerns

• Humphreys (1970) tea room trade research
• Personnel actionfailure to ensure anonymity
• Incest casefailure to remove identifying
  information

• Anonymity no one including the experimenter can
  match the data to specific individuals
• Confidentiality the experimenter knows
  participants identities but takes steps to
  protect participants privacy.

18
Standards governing social science research

• at the department level
• Human Subjects Committees
• at the university level
• Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
• professional associations
• American Psychological Associations Ethical
  Guidelines
• Code of Ethics of the American Speech Hearing
  and Language Association

19
Debriefing participants

• Dehoaxing
• undoing the cover story and revealing the true
  purpose of the investigation
• Desensitizing
• addressing any lingering psychological or
  emotional concerns associated with participating
  in the investigation
• Explaining the benefits of participation to
  subjects
• Thanking subjects and providing for future
  contact if necessary

20
Treating participants with respect and dignity

• the subjects versus participants controversy
• avoiding isms in research sexism, racism,
  ethnocentrism, ageism, etc.
• ethics of withholding treatment from control
  groups