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Summary Research ethics
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Chapter 3: Research ethicsWe need research ethics to prevent people taking advantage of
their participants. Many people's rights have been violated in the
past due to unethical research. Examples of this include the study
on Syphilis done in the USA in 1932. 399 African American men who
had contracted syphilis were withheld treatment so that the public
health service could determine what the long-term effects of
untreated syphilis were. The research was not explained to the
participants and many died as a result.
Another example is the experiments done in concentration camps
during the Nazi era in Germany. Josef Mengele (a Nazi doctor)
injected people with poisons and germs, removed body organs and
amputated limbs without anaesthetics. Again, many died in the
name of scientific investigation.
In 1974, Stanley Milgram performed an experiment to test the
phenomenon of obedience. He instructed participants to administer
electric shocks to victims (who were actually actors). He did this to
test how much the researcher needed to pressure people in order to
get them to “hurt” other people. Similarly, in 1974, Philip Zimbardo
used a sample of college students to recreate a prison environment.
Some were told to play the role of prison wardens, others were told
to be prisoners. Eventually, those playing the roles of prison
wardens became sadistic and cruel, while the “prisoners” became
stressed and depressed. The study had to be stopped after six days.
Between 1971 and 1989, 900 homosexual soldiers were forced to
have sexual reassignment operations. This was part of a
programme of treatment and research to show that homosexuality
could be “cured” by using aversion therapy, electro-shock therapy,
hormone treatment, chemical castration and sexual reassignment
surgeries.
Social research is a source of power which can be used for social
gain, or abused for personal gain. Every African country is
struggling with major social problems, and resources need to be
used wisely. Some argue that because social research uses money
that could be used to improve living conditions, that research
should be limited. However, others say that the cost is justified
because social research may provide insight and solutions to the
social problems that developing countries face. Four issues are
relevant here:
1. The highest quality practice: Poor social research is practically
useless, so research must be of a high quality, especially in
vulnerable developing countries.
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