Ethical Research

Week 8 Forum – Ethical Research

(Ethical Research)

This is a two-part forum.  Be sure to complete both parts to earn full credit.

PART 1:
To prepare for this part of the forum, first watch the documentary A Class Divided at

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/

Transcript for the video is also available at:  https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/class-divided/transcript/
Although this “Blue Eyes – Brown Eyes Experiment” featured in this video is considered today to be of great importance in terms of what it reveals about human propensity for prejudice and discrimination as evidenced by the behavior of the documentary’s elementary school children, the experiment is also controversial because it not only placed children in psychologically distressful situations, but did so without the permission of parents or other adult guardians.  Today, it could not be conducted as it was back in the 1960s.
For this discussion, think about a study that you have read or viewed a video about during previous course weeks that you feel also raises serious ethical concerns. Do you think that study should have been performed? That is, does the knowledge gained from this study justify the deception or discomfort experienced by the subjects? If the experiment’s negative impact on subjects was only temporary, does this fact diminish the ethical problems to an acceptable level in your opinion? What standards of ethics would you follow if you were a researcher?
PART 2:

Describe 3 learning take-aways you will take with you when you leave the course.  A take-away is particular knowledge that you gained during course completion that has particular meaning and that you believe you will be able to use in the future. Identifying something such as what a textbook chapter focused on or summarizing book content, lecture notes, etc. does not count as a take-away.  For this part of the forum you will want to think about what you have learned this term that really has meaning for you and that you can see yourself putting to future use.  Quotes cannot be included in Part 2.  You will need describe each take-away in your own words.