Deck 3: The Ethics and Politics of Social Research

Question 1

Anonymity and confidentiality are two different names for the same concept.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT an essential component of informed consent?

A)Disclosure of any potential risks associated with the research
B)A description of the possible benefits to science and society
C)A statement that once they begin participation, they cannot quit
D)A statement that participation in the project is voluntary
E)A statement of any provisions for confidentiality or anonymity

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Hakeem wants to study the way that people interact in the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game)World of Warcraft. He has started collecting data on players he has encountered and on his group of friends who play together. He comes to you for advice about how to ensure that his study is ethical. Based on what he has told you so far, which of the following is the best advice?

A)Hakeem needs to seek informed consent from the players that he is studying before he conducts his research.
B)Hakeem's research is highly likely to harm participants, so he needs to rethink his study design.
C)It may be difficult to maintain anonymity online, so Hakeem needs to plan for that.
D)Hakeem doesn't need to make any adjustments to his study; it's already abiding by all ethical guidelines.
E)Hakeem may not know the real names of any of his subjects, which may cause an ethical issue if he needs to contact them.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Professor Smith decides to track the dating behaviors of college students throughout their college careers. She decides to begin her research using her introductory class. After explaining the study, she assures students that their responses will be kept confidential. The students complete her survey during class. Her research most clearly impinges on:

A)deception.
B)analysis and reporting of the data.
C)voluntary participation.
D)the value placed on anonymity.
E)value-free reports of the data.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a potential ethical issue that Babbie cites in the area of Analysis and Reporting?

A)Falsifying data or drawing on nonexistent research
B)Not reporting negative findings
C)Pretending that all findings were due to a rigorous study design
D)Failing to follow the rules of informed consent
E)Carelessness or sloppiness in analysis

Question 6

Social scientists are totally objective in their research.

Question 7

In contrast to Weber, Marxist and neo-Marxist scholars argue that social science and social action:

A)should be kept separate to keep politics from affecting research.
B)cannot and should not be separated from each other.
C)are not related concepts.
D)cannot and should not be performed by the same researcher.
E)are related to each other but separate topics.

Question 8

Ethical issues are distinguished from political issues in research in that:

A)ethics deals more with the substance of research.
B)politics deals more with the methods of research.
C)there are no formal codes of accepted political conduct, whereas there are codes of ethical conduct.
D)ethics deals more with the use of research.
E)ethical issues and political issues are the same in the research process.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT an ethical concern raised by Laud Humphreys' study of homosexual behavior in public restrooms?

A)Humphreys deceived his subjects by offering to be watchqueen as if he were a member of the community.
B)Humphreys invaded the privacy of his subjects by looking up their license plates and identifying them.
C)Humphreys deceived his subjects by conducting a follow-up interview with his subjects while concealing his identity.
D)Humphreys completed the research in a public area where subjects had no expectation of privacy.
E)Humphreys did not identify himself as a researcher during the study.

Question 10

Which of the following was NOT suggested by Kathleen McKinney as a way to ensure the right to privacy in doing research on sexuality?

A)Anonymous surveys
B)Anonymous interviews
C)Disguising the identity of the person or group being studied
D)Reporting data at the group level
E)Keeping interviews confidential

Question 11

In which of the following scenarios would confidentiality be of the LEAST concern?

A)Secondary data analysis
B)Face-to-face interviews
C)Paper questionnaires
D)Telephone interviews
E)Laboratory experimental research

Question 12

Which of the following is a political objection to Stanley Milgram's research, rather than an ethical one?

A)The study had negative effects on the subjects of the study.
B)The use of electrical shock had negative effects on the "pupils" in the study.
C)The results of Milgram's study could be misused to make people more obedient.
D)The results of Milgram's study could not be replicated.
E)The subjects of Milgram's study were not appropriately debriefed at the end.

Question 13

The norm of voluntary participation threatens the social research goal of generalizability.

Question 14

The PRIMARY ethical research issue raised by the Milgram study was:

A)the willingness of people to harm others when "following orders" required it.
B)the administering of electronic shocks to the pupils.
C)the effects of the methods on the pupils.
D)the effects of the methods on the teacher.
E)the examination of obedience as a topic for study.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a critique that was leveled at Arthur Jensen's work on racial IQ differences?

A)The research didn't take social-environmental differences into account.
B)The data that he used were unreliable.
C)He was racist and therefore drew racist conclusions.
D)His methodology was sloppy and poorly thought out.
E)He exposed the sensitive personal information of his subjects.

Question 16

Which of the following is true of the relationship between social science and politics?

A)Social science is totally independent of political considerations.
B)Social scientists should not allow their values to affect their research.
C)Ideological disputes often bring social science studies to a halt.
D)Researchers should not bring their expertise and personal values into public debates.
E)It is not important to be aware of ideological considerations when you practice social science.

Question 17

_____ is a norm in which subjects base their voluntary participation in research projects on a full understanding of the possible risks involved.

A)Research participation
B)The Hawthorne effect
C)Generalizability
D)The code of ethics
E)Informed consent

Question 18

_____________ in studies of sexuality can be best accomplished by using anonymous, self-administered questionnaires or by using well-trained interviewers with sensitively worded questions.

A)Confidentiality
B)Protection from harm
C)Informed consent
D)Right to privacy
E)Anonymity

Question 19

Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding university IRBs?

A)IRBs must review all research.
B)IRBs seek to ensure that the risks faced by subjects are minimal.
C)IRBs may refuse to approve a study.
D)IRBs may require a researcher to revise the study design.
E)IRBs must review all research seeking federal research funds.

Question 20

What ethical issue did Stanley Milgram's work on obedience to authority and Laud Humphreys' work on homosexual behavior have in common?

A)There were no ethical issues in either researcher's work.
B)Both forced participants to be a part of their studies.
C)Both were accused of psychologically harming test subjects.
D)Both used deception in a way that was potentially damaging to their subjects.
E)Both misrepresented their research findings when they published.

Question 21

Please read the May 15, 2006, article entitled "Research Fraud Is Harmless and Easy-Until It's Not" on the Institute for Global Ethics site at: http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2006/05/15/ ​ What, if any, ethical standards does this commentary raise in terms of protecting human subjects? What did you think of the concluding statement, "Every researcher in every endeavor needs to remember that big lies start small and start easy"?

Question 22

Only names, birthdates, and social security numbers are considered identifiable data.

Question 23

Choose an ethical issue presented in this chapter, create a research situation where this issue could arise, and describe how you would handle it.

Question 24

Ethical obligations to one's colleagues in the scientific community:

A)require that technical shortcomings and failures of the study be revealed.
B)encourage researchers to ignore negative findings.
C)encourage researchers to describe their findings as the product of a carefully preplanned analytical strategy.
D)require researchers to report only the positive discoveries.
E)encourage researchers to not report limitations.

Question 25

Weber called the lack of intrusion of the researcher's own political position on research:

A)value-free sociology.
B)anonymity.
C)confidentiality.
D)the identity of the researcher.
E)deception.

Question 26

When names are removed from questionnaires and are replaced with identification numbers so that only the researcher can later link a response to a particular name, the researcher should tell the respondent that the information is:

A)anonymous.
B)confidential.
C)anonymous and confidential.
D)harmless.
E)secure.

Question 27

Choose either Stanley Milgram's or Laud Humphreys' research and identify at least two ethical problems with the study you chose. What changes could the researcher have made to their work to avoid being unethical?

Question 28

At the conclusion of his research project, Fred interviews his research subjects to discover whether they have problems because of their participation in the research project. Fred is engaged in the debriefing process.

Question 29

Political issues tend to focus on substance and the use of research.

Question 30

Which of the following variables would be of the LEAST ethical concern to an IRB?

A)Subject's sexual orientation
B)Subject's age
C)Subject's criminal history
D)Subject's drug use
E)Subject's social security number

Question 31

Which of the following does NOT harm subjects?

A)Having them face aspects of themselves that they do not normally consider
B)Asking them to reveal their unpopular attitudes
C)Asking them to identify their deviant behavior
D)Allowing them to identify themselves easily in the final report
E)Asking them to provide demographic information

Question 32

Social scientists agree that objectivity is necessary for research.

Question 33

Which of the following statements is NOT found in the AAPOR Code of Professional Ethics and Practice?

A)We shall correct any errors in our own work that come to our attention, which could influence interpretation of the results, disseminating such corrections to all original recipients of our content.
B)We shall select research tools and methods of analysis because of their special capacity to yield a desired conclusion.
C)We shall protect the anonymity of every respondent, unless the respondent waives such anonymity for specified uses.
D)We shall not knowingly imply that interpretations should be accorded greater confidence than the data actually warrant.
E)We shall respect the respondents' desires, when expressed, not to answer specific survey questions or provide other information to the researcher.

Question 34

Choose a hypothetical research project of your own interest. Rather than focusing upon the ethical concerns before and during the research project, think of what could come after the research has been completed. Why would this be a potential issue? What would you do to avoid these problems?

Question 35

Debriefing entails discussing any potential threats to the participants in research before they take part, during the informed consent process.

Question 36

It is often as important to report that two variables are unrelated as to report that they are related.

Question 37

Once people are told that their participation in a research study is voluntary, there are no ethical problems.

Question 38

Which of the following techniques of data collection is MOST likely to make a guarantee of anonymity difficult?

A)Face-to-face interviews
B)Mailed questionnaires
C)Secondary data analysis
D)Unobtrusive measures
E)The data collection technique does not affect the guarantee of anonymity.

Question 39

The process of debriefing, in the context of research, serves to:

A)inform subjects of any potential risks before their participation.
B)check periodically with subjects to determine their emotional state.
C)remove identifying information from collected data.
D)interview subjects and discuss deception after their participation.
E)intentionally mislead subjects during a research project.

Question 40

How is the conduct of social science research on sex and sexuality affected by politics? Give at least two examples.