Ethical Implications of Research
What are the ethical implications of research?
- Researchers must be mindful of the impact their research has - both on the participants involved in the research and when the research is published
- Researchers face a dilemma when conducting research: how much do they tell their participants (to satisfy the ethical guideline of informed consent) and how much do they conceal so as to ensure their findings are valid?
- Once research has been published there is very little that can be done by researchers in terms of how the media will interpret and present the findings of that research
Milgram’s (1963) study has huge ethical implications in the way that it treated its participants but was it worth it considering what it revealed about the nature of obedience?
Buss (1995) published research that claimed that men look for youth in a woman and women look for wealth in a man: such findings could be used by the media to validate sexist stereotypes
What is socially sensitive research?
- Socially sensitive research deals with topics that, if handled badly by the researcher, could have negative consequences for the groups involved due to the ways in which the findings could be interpreted or even manipulated by external sources such as the media
- Research into for example, criminality, addiction, sexual preference, gender, race tend to be particularly prone to media scrutiny (both mass media such as TV news and on social media platforms)
- When conducting socially sensitive research it is important that researchers exercise reflexivity
What are the benefits of socially sensitive research?
- Minority or underrepresented social groups can be given the ‘spotlight’, allowing perspectives, attitudes and experiences that are not those of the dominant group to take centre-stage and be heard
- Socially sensitive research can help to highlight inadequacies in the care of vulnerable people e.g. Rosenhan’s (1973) study on the de-humanising treatment of patients in mental hospitals in the USA
What are the drawbacks of socially sensitive research?
- Some socially sensitive studies have actually been conducted in ways which are far from ethical and have in turn led to the perpetuation of bias and discrimination e.g. Burt (1955) invented data that led to the implementation of the 11+ examinations in the UK, the results of which segregated children according to their IQ
- Researchers who conduct socially sensitive research must take care not to exploit their participants, particularly if those participants are vulnerable e.g. Griffiths (1994) study into gambling addiction
‘Shock’ headlines such as this one only serve to fuel public anger and outrage: studies of mental illness must take care to avoid being accused of perpetuating such negative representations of those who struggle with their mental health
Exam Tip
It is important that you are very clear in your exam responses as to what is meant by ‘ethical implications’. You will lose marks if you simply recount a list of ethical guidelines. You will gain marks if you give examples that explicitly link ethics to implications e.g. that participants would be harmed if the published research served to demonise them. Good answers to a high-value question on ethical implications tend to cover a range of issues and make good use of such diverse topics as IQ testing, defining abnormality, attitudes to child-rearing, gender research, although any topics can be cited as long as they are relevant.
