When conducting clinical research and performing research studies with human or animal subjects, the research (experimenter) must consider the ethics of certain actions. Although most research studies that use human subjects must be approved first by an Institutional Review Board (Institutional Review Boards, 2002), some ethical dilemmas still present themselves.
One ethical dilemma concerns research studies that involve deception. While deceiving a participant about aspects of a research study is permitted, certain conditions apply. Subjects should only be deceived if there is no alternative to perform the research and if the inherent value of the research justifies the deception. Researchers cannot withhold the truth about potential negative consequences of a study, such as possible physical risks and emotional or physical discomfort. Deception cannot discredit individuals’ rights. (Corey, Corey, & Callahan, 2003).
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One famous research study that illustrates deception in research was performed by psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1963. Milgram, desiring to understand the Germans’ genocide of the Jewish people during World War II, examined how authority figures influenced obedience. Incorporating 40 male subjects, an authority figure told participants that they must deliver electric shocks to people who answered questions wrong. However, the people were not receiving real electric shocks, the experiment staged with fake shock buttons. Upon administering “shocks,” the subjects heard the “wrong answerers” express pain and discomfort. In spite of this, the authority figures instructed subjects to keep shocking people, using higher voltages each time. Surprisingly, most of the subjects conformed (McLeod, 2007).
Was it ethical to deceive the participants by making them think that they were inflicting physical harm? Were the participants being psychologically harmed by the instructions? Finally, was there another way to assess subjects’ level of obedience? The concept of deception in research is an area that continues to be debated today among clinical researchers.
- Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callahan, P. (2003). Issues & Ethics in the Helping Professions (6th ed.). Pacific Grove: Wadsworth Group.
- Institutional Review Boards. (2002). Retrieved from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory: http://www.ncddr.org/products/researchexchange/v07n01/5_irbs.html
- McLeod, S. A. (2007). The Milgram Experiment. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from Simply Psychology.org.
