Get a copy of a local or regional newspaper
or go to a newspaper’s website. Find three
articles that deal with social behavior or
characteristics. List the name of the paper,
the date of publication, and the headline for
each of these articles.
2. Select one of the stories and make a copy to
turn in with this exercise.
3. Create one research question on the topic of
the article that could be answered by social
research and state it.
4. Assuming you could get enough funding and
had the time to do research to answer the
question you stated, would you do the
research? Describe why you would or would
not do the research by focusing on your
personal interests, today’s social and political
climate, and the contribution you think the
research would make to social science or
society
In the following examples, the researcher has
made or will need to make a choice about ethical
principles. For each situation, identify the ethical
principle(s), speculate about why the researchers
made the decisions they did, and then state
whether you agree with their decisions.
66 CHAPTER 3 • Ethics and Social Research
9781305548770, An Invitation to Social Research: How It’s Done, Fifth Edition, Adler/Clark – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization. Distributed by Grand Canyon University.
A. Professor Ludwig’s research question is
whether there is a connection between
experiencing family violence and academic
achievement among students. He contacts
the principal of a local high school who
agrees to the school’s participation. At a
school assembly, the principal hands out
Professor Ludwig’s questionnaire, which includes
questions about family behavior including
violence between family members.
The principal requests that the students fill
out the survey and put their names on it. The
following day, Professor Ludwig uses school
records to obtain information about each
student’s level of academic achievement so
that he can answer his research question. He
keeps all information that he obtains confidential
and presents only a statistical analysis
of the data.
1. What ethical principle(s) do you think
was (were) violated in this research?
2. Describe the probable reason(s) Professor
Ludwig violated the principle(s) you
noted in your answer to Question 1.
3. Describe your reactions to the way this
study was done.
B. Professor Hawkins receives funding from
both a state agency and a national feminist
organization to study the connection among
marital power, spouses’ financial resources,
and marital violence. Deciding to interview
both spouses from at least 100 married couples,
she contacts potential participants by
mail. Because she is a university professor,
she writes to each couple on university letterhead
stationery and asks each couple to
participate in her study. She specifies that she
will be interviewing them about their marriage
but does not state the specific topics
that the interview will cover or the source of
her funding. She specifies that everything the
couple tells her will be kept confidential.
1. What ethical principle(s) do you think
was (were) violated in this research?
2. Describe the probable reason(s) Professor
Hawkins violated the principle(s) you
noted in your answer to Question 1.
3. Describe your reactions to the way this
study was done.
C. To study a radical “right-to-life” group,
Professor Jenkins decides to join the group
without telling the members that he is secretly
studying it. After each meeting, he returns
home and takes field notes about the
members and their discussion. After several
months of attending meetings, he is invited to
become a member of the group’s board of
directors and he accepts. One evening at the
group’s general membership meeting, one
member of the board becomes enraged during
the discussion about abortion information
and procedures available at a local
women’s health clinic. He shouts that the
clinic staff deserves to die. Later that week,
someone fires a gun through several windows
of the clinic. Although no one is killed,
several clinic staff and one patient are injured.
The police find out that Professor
Jenkins has been studying the local group
and subpoena his field notes. Professor
Jenkins complies with the subpoena, and the
board member is arrested.
1. What ethical principle(s) do you think
was (were) violated in this research?
2. Describe the probable reason(s) Professor
Jenkins violated the principles you noted
in your answer to Question 1.
3. Describe your reactions to the way this
study was done and the researcher’s
response to the subpoen
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