Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Ethics in Research

So I thought it would be good to talk about the two research experiments we addressed in class this week since they have to do with ethics and are strongly related to my blog focus.

There are a few guidelines to understand when dealing with Ethics in Research. The first is to keep the participants anonymous or keep their participation confidential. The second is that the research conducted should not inflict any harm upon the participants. The third is that the research conducted should be voluntary participation. Keeping these guidelines in mind and basic human ethics lets take a look at the two studies presented in class...

The first, Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in my opinion is completely unethical. How can the researches justify that allowing 400 people to suffer for 40 years and die to be ethical? Yes, it is true that the study allowed them to save millions of lives but who is to say one life is greater than another and one person should be saved at the others expense? I am taking the deontology approach on this one. The good (saving millions of people) should never have been achieved by evil means (killing 400 people).

In addition, two out of three of the ethical guidelines in research were broken. There is obvious harm to these participants- the majority of them died. The study also violated the voluntary participation. The participants thought they were being studied to find the cure of syphilis, they did not sign up for a study that research of their deteriorating bodies so the cure to other diseases can be found.

The second, Milgram's Obedience Study, also violates research ethics. The participants were not harmed on a physical level but were on a psychological level. Many people became depressed and some even committed suicide due to being a participant in the study.

I do believe there is a great importance in research. It can help businesses, cure diseases, give an explanation of why people do things, and much more. Although research can provide great insight it should not be abused- there is an ethical obligation researchers should adopt and if they want to research something bad enough I am sure they will be able to find a way to do so without breaking those obligations.

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