Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

HOW TO REVIEW THE LITERATURE AND CONDUCT ETHICAL STUDIES

it to some individuals but give others a placebo,
or empty pill. The study is designed to demon-
strate whether the drug is effective, but participants
who get the placebo may die. Of course, those
receiving the drug may also die until more is known
about whether the drug is effective. Is it ethical for
you to deny a potential lifesaving treatment to
people who have been randomly assigned in a study
to learn more?
We can reduce new inequality among research
participants in three ways. First, participants who do
not receive the “new, improved” treatment continue
to receive the best previously acceptable treatment.
In other words, no one is denied all assistance, but
everyone receives the best treatment available prior
to the new one being tested. This ensures that no
one suffers in absolute terms even if they tem-
porarily fall behind others in relative terms. Sec-
ond, we can use crossover designs, whereby a
control group (i.e., those who do not get the new
treatment) for a first phase of the study receive it in
the second phase, and vice versa. Finally, we care-
fully and continuously monitor results. If it appears
early in the study that the new treatment is highly
effective, we give the new treatment to everyone.
Also, in high-risk studies with medical treatments
or possible physical harm, researchers may use ani-
mal or other surrogates for humans.

Privacy, Anonymity, and Confidentiality.How

would you feel if private details about your per-

sonal life were shared with the public without your

knowledge? Because social researchers transgress

the privacy of subjects in order to study social

behavior, they must take precautions to protect par-

ticipants’ privacy.

Privacy. Survey researchers invade a person’s pri-

vacy when they probe into beliefs, backgrounds,

and behaviors in a way that reveals intimate private

details. Experimental researchers sometimes use

two-way mirrors or hidden microphones to “spy”

on participants. Even if people are told they are

being studied, they are unaware of what the exper-

imenter is looking for. Field researchers may observe

very private aspects of another’s behavior or eaves-

drop on conversations. In field experimentation and

ethnographic field research, privacy can be violated

without advance warning. When Humphreys (1975)

served as a “watchqueen” in a public restroom

where homosexual contacts took place, he observed

very private behavior without informing the par-

ticipants. When Piliavin and colleagues (1969) had

people collapse on subways to study helping behav-

ior, those in the subway car had the privacy of their

ride violated. People have been studied in public

places (e.g., in waiting rooms, walking down the

street, in classrooms), but some “public” places are

more private than others (consider, for example,

the use of periscopes to observe people who thought

they were alone in a public toilet stall).^21

The ethical researcher violates privacy only to

the minimum degree necessary and only for legiti-

mate research purposes. In addition, he or she pro-

tects the information on research participants from

public disclosure.

In some situations, the law protects privacy. One

case of the invasion of privacy led to the passage of

a federal law. In the Wichita Jury Studyof 1954, Uni-

versity of Chicago Law School researchers recorded

jury discussions to examine group processes in jury

deliberations. Although the findings were significant

and researchers took precautions, a Congressional

investigation followed and passed a law in 1956 to

prohibit the “bugging” of any grand or petit jury for

any purpose, even with the jurors’ consent.^22

Anonymity. Researchers protect privacy by not

disclosing a participant’s identity after information

is gathered. This takes two forms: anonymity and

confidentiality. Anonymitymeans that people

remain anonymous, or nameless. For example, a field

researcher provides a social picture of a particular

Anonymity The ethical protection that participants

remain nameless; their identity is protected from dis-

closure and remains unknown.

Crossover design A type of experimental design in

which all groups receive the treatment but at different

times so that discomfort or benefits are shared and

inequality is not created.