Ethical Issues in Research. Scientific misconduct is fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in.

Ethical Issues in Research

Scientific misconduct is fabrication,

falsification, or plagiarism in proposing,

performing, or reviewing research, or in

reporting research results.

Definition of ScientificMisconduct

McGill University Study

1957-60 • Ewan Cameron (McGill U. in Montreal) administered

psychedelic drugs to 52 unsuspecting patients in order to carry out brainwashing experiments for the CIA.

• Experiments disclosed publicly for the first time in 1977 in the New York Times.

• Not until 1988 that the survivors received settlement.

Tuskegee Study• Beginning in the 1930s, 399 men signed up with the U.S. Public

Health Service for free medical care. The service was conducting a study on the effects of syphilis on the human body.

• The men were never told they had syphilis. They were told they had "bad blood" and were denied access to treatment, even for years after penicillin came into use in 1947.

• By the time the study was exposed in 1972, 28 men had died of syphilis, 100 others were dead of related complications, at least 40 wives had been infected and 19 children had contracted the disease at birth.

http://www.tuskegee.edu/global/Story.asp?s=1211670

Nazi GermanyNazi Germany Experimentation-Charges brought against 23 German physicians in the Nuremberg War Crime Trials for their medical experiments – included:

1. Freezing Experiments2. Malaria Experiments3. High-Altitude Experiments4. Experiments without consent5. Experiments without anesthesia

Codes

• The American Sociological Association (ASA) adopted a formal code of ethics in 1969.

• American Psychological Association (1982)• The Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Human Research

with Human Participants

• The National Research Act (1974)• Passed by Congress for the purpose of protecting human

subjects participating in experiments.

• Of course, while it’s essential to have codes, the responsibility for ethical research ultimately lies with the individual researcher.

Informed Consent

• Tell participants who is conducting study

• Why was subject singled out for participation?e.g. random samplee.g. recently given birth to 1st child etc.

• What is the time commitment?e.g. 45 minutes to complete the survey

• Any benefits for the participant to be expected?Realistically, there are often few direct benefits.

• Any potential risks, and how have these been managed?

Ethical Factors

• No PressureNever any pressuring of participants.

• SafetySafety of participants is essential.

• CreditEvery researcher must receive precise, appropriate credit.

• CommunicateOne should try to make results known to participants.

• Ill Usage of ResearchOne should be conscious of possible bad uses of research.

Informed Consent

• Others may be indirectly involved

—This is WRONGStudentsPrison InmatesEmployeesMilitary PersonnelThe HomelessWelfare Recipients

Privacy and Confidentiality• Confidentiality refers to linking information to a

person’s identity– CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES WHERE

CONFIDENTIALITY WOULD BE IMPOTANT?• Informed consent should indicate how researcher

will protect confidentiality of participants• Some procedures that can ensure confidentiality:

– Obtaining anonymous information– Code data so that identifying info is eliminated– Substitute other names– Do not release or report individual data– Limit access that could reveal individual identity– Report data only in group form– Used computerized methods for encrypting data

Other Ethical Issues

• One should not cheat, falsify data etc.

• One should not plagiarize.

Plagiarism• Plagiarism is taking another’s work and passing it off as your

own.

• In a broad sense we are all guilty of plagiarism many times each day.

• We often take ideas from others and don’t attribute them to their original source.

• When we talk about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire or say, “To be or not to be, that is the question” in normal conversation, we rarely attribute the words to Shakespeare.

Plagiarism Extends to More than Words

• One should always provide references for any – Statistics

– Theories

– Graphs

– Tables

– Numbers, etc.

that one wishes to use in one's own paper.

• Thus, it isn’t just the words of another person’s ideas that one should reference.

“Common Knowledge” and Plagiarism

• It is not necessary to document every single statement.

• One need not give a reference for stating that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

• This fact is common knowledge and belongs in the public domain.

• However, if you are referring to Historian X’s thesis that Kennedy was killed by a crime syndicate and not by Lee Harvey Oswald, proper citation to such a theory is requisite.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

• Most Colleges/universities have IRBs

• BC has one: BC Institutional Review Board

Questions Asked by IRBs

• About the Investigator Who is the primary investigator, and who is supervising the study?

• About Research Participants What are general characteristics of participants (e.g. age, sex etc.)?

Any special characteristics of participants (e.g. children, alcoholics, mentally retarded etc.)?

Any other institutions/individuals cooperating/cosponsoring the study?

What is general state of health (mental and physical) of the participants?

How will subjects be selected for, or excluded from, participation in this study?

Questions Asked by IRBs

• Procedure:– What will the subjects be asked to do, or what behaviors will be observed by the

researchers?

– Will deception be used? If yes, why is it necessary?

– What is nature of the deception, and when will the debriefing take place?

• Material:– E.g., if electrical or mechanical equipment will be used, how has it been checked

for safety?

Questions Asked by IRBs

• Risks– Any immediate risks to the subjects, including possibly causing them

embarrassment, inconvenience, or discomfort?

– Are there any long-range risks to the subjects?

– If there are risks, what is the necessity for them, and how will subjects be compensated for facing such risks?

IRBs are very Concerned about Possible Psychological Harm

• E.g.: a project involving interviewing of women who’ve been raped.

• Obviously consent must be obtained.

• They’re free to withdraw at any time.

• Perhaps have psychological counseling available in case of distress.