Deck 3: The Ethical Principles That Guide Researchers

Question 1

A researcher who asks research subjects to run stop signs in front of police officers to see how the police will react is violating what ethical principle?

A) Do no harm
B) Ensure privacy
C) Deception
D) Plagiarism

Answer 1

A

Question 2

After analyzing the data from a study you are conducting on a drug use prevention program, you find that your results are not as definitive as you had predicted. You suspect that some of the data may have been coded wrong so you change some of the data. This changes the results dramatically and ""proves"" that you were right. The potential ethical violation here is:

A) sponsorship bias and suppression.
B) prevent misrepresentation.
C) do no harm.
D) ensure privacy.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What is the potential harm when a criminal justice researcher interviews violent criminal offenders in their home?

A) Physical
B) Psychological
C) Legal
D) Personal

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is the potential harm when a researcher asks respondents to disclose their names, addresses, and information on their criminal behavior?

A) Physical
B) Psychological
C) Legal
D) Privacy

Question 5

What is the potential harm when an interviewer asks young sexual assault victims to recount the details of their victimization?

A) Physical
B) Psychological
C) Legal
D) Emotional

Question 6

When it is not possible for anybody, including the researcher, to determine the identities of the research subjects using the information they provide on a survey, we say that research subjects have been granted:

A) anonymity.
B) confidentiality.
C) privacy.
D) amnesty.

Question 7

When a researcher knows but agrees not to disclose her research subjects' identities, she has likely assured them of:

A) anonymity.
B) confidentiality.
C) privacy.
D) legal protection.

Question 8

Researchers should secure consent from research subjects prior to gathering information from them. This consent must be both:

A) voluntary and written.
B) voluntary and informed.
C) informed and written.
D) None of the above

Question 9

If a researcher threatens to tell a research subject's boss that the subject has refused to participate in the research study, the subject's consent is considered:

A) contrived.
B) involuntary.
C) reliable.
D) uninformed.

Question 10

Which of the following groups of research subjects would be considered a vulnerable population, requiring a more detailed review by an Institutional Review Board?

A) School children
B) Incarcerated offenders
C) Nursing home residents
D) All of the above

Question 11

When should a research report on the safety and effectiveness of a new non-lethal weapon used by police officers be reviewed more critically?

A) If the research report was published by a government agency that tests consumer products for safety.
B) If the research report was written by a researcher for a peer reviewed scholarly journal.
C) If the research were conducted by a private research firm that tests products for the insurance industry.
D) If the research were sponsored by the same company that manufactures the new weapon.

Question 12

A researcher is hired to evaluate the effectiveness of a substance abuse rehabilitation program for incarcerated offenders. After reviewing the data provided by the organization administering the program, the researcher notices that a large amount of information is missing. The researcher should do which of the following?

A) Not worry about it because criminal justice data is notoriously incomplete.
B) Proceed with the analysis and report that data are missing.
C) Refuse to conduct the analysis until the data set is complete.
D) Based on his experience, complete the data set with 'probable' values.

Question 13

A researcher uses information from an open source website similar to Wikipedia. Because this information is readily available to anyone who wants it and does not include the name of the person who provided the information, the researcher decides not to attribute the information to the website from which it came. This researcher is guilty of:

A) deception.
B) lying.
C) nothing.
D) plagiarism.

Question 14

Researchers who intend to gather information from human subjects should seek the approval for their research from an Institutional Review Board:

A) every time human subjects are involved in the data collection.
B) in cases where research subjects are considered a vulnerable population.
C) only if they think their data collection will expose the research subjects to harm.
D) when the research plan involves some kind of medical intervention.

Question 15

At the request of the local police chief, you are conducting research on the work habits of police officers. You tell the officers about the nature of the study and the information you are going to collect in interviews with them. You also suggest that their failure to participate in the ""department approved"" research project will be reported to the chief. The potential ethical violation here is:

A) do no harm.
B) ensure privacy.
C) obtain voluntary and informed consent.
D) prevent misrepresentation.

Question 16

After conducting a case study of a child who had been the victim of bullying in school, you realize that others might be able to determine the identity of the research subject (the child) You decide to publish the results anyway because you have the guardian's permission and you doubt that anyone will read your article. The potential ethical violation here is:

A) ensure privacy.
B) do no harm.
C) get permission.
D) obtain voluntary and informed consent.

Question 17

A researcher who agrees not to disclose the identities of research subjects is ensuring them of:

A) privacy.
B) anonymity.
C) confidentiality.
D) none of the above

Question 18

A researcher who asks subjects to fill out a survey without asking their permission or telling them how the survey will be used is violating what ethical principle?

A) Privacy
B) Obtain voluntary consent
C) Obtain informed consent
D) Both b and c

Question 19

Which of the following groups would be considered a vulnerable population?

A) Police officers
B) Correctional officers
C) Inmates
D) Judges

Question 20

A corporate research sponsor who refuses to release damaging research information is violating what ethical principle?

A) Suppression
B) Bias
C) Deception
D) plagiarism

Question 21

A student who copies and pastes information from a free public website into a research report without attribution is violating what ethical principle?

A) Deception
B) Research fraud
C) Misrepresentation
D) plagiarism

Question 22

A research supervisor who allows assistants to enter into a high crime neighborhood at night without a contingency plan is violating what ethical principle?

A) Misrepresentation
B) Do no harm
C) Ensure the safety of researchers
D) Reckless endangerment

Question 23

A group of experienced researchers who review research plans that involve human subjects for the purpose of insuring their protection is called:

A) a review board.
B) an Intuitional Review Board.
C) a research tribunal.
D) a peer review committee.

Question 24

Federal regulations that are designed to protect human research subjects apply to:

A) university professors only.
B) any researcher who collects information from human subjects.
C) corporate and for-profit researchers only.
D) medical researchers.

Question 25

Statements of principles that guide professional behavior or practice are called:

A) codes of ethics.
B) codes of Hammurabi.
C) Socratic codes.
D) federal regulations.

Question 26

A criminologist conducts a study on the effectiveness of a new violent offender rehabilitation program at the request of the program developer, a for-profit company. She determines that the program is largely ineffective. A few weeks later, she reads in the paper that the state prison authorities have adopted this program because it "has been evaluated by a competent criminologist and has been found to be effective." The potential ethical violation here is:

A) do no harm.
B) ensure privacy.
C) sponsorship bias or suppression.
D) ensure the safety of researchers.

Question 27

A tribal police department has asked you to evaluate an alcohol dependency program being offered on a Native American reservation. You immediately travel to the reservation and begin interviewing patients, all alcoholics, in the treatment facility. You presume that since the tribal police department invited you to evaluate the program, you can get started right away. The potential ethical violation here is:

A) ensure privacy.
B) get permission.
C) obtain voluntary and informed consent.
D) prevent misrepresentation.

Question 28

Two graduate students have been assigned to conduct field observations of juveniles who ""hang out"" on street corners. The research site is a known high crime area. When one of the students expresses concern about their safety, the research director says, "Don't worry about it. What could possibly happen?" The potential ethical violation here is:

A) ensure the safety of researchers.
B) prevent misrepresentation.
C) do no harm.
D) ensure privacy.

Question 29

You have been asked to determine the extent to which the local police department enforces marijuana laws. You hire ten students and ask them to openly smoke marijuana in various public places. You want to see if the police confront them. The potential ethical violation here is:

A) ensure privacy.
B) obtain voluntary and informed consent.
C) get permission.
D) do no harm.

Question 30

Which of the following research projects would likely require a full review, as opposed to an expedited review, by an Institutional Review Board?

A) A focus group involving airline passengers who travel frequently
B) A series of interviews of parents whose children have been murdered
C) A survey of the general population on how they intend to vote in an election
D) An unobtrusive observational study of people in a shopping mall