The second research seminar of the week will be held on Thursday, March 26th at 12:30 p.m. Scott Desposato, Political Science Professor at the University of California, will discuss the ethical problems and solutions for social science experiments.

ABSTRACT:

US-based Scholars are conducting aggressive experiments in many parts of the world, randomizing the assignment of health clinics, water treatments, utility bills, campaign messages, and even crimes, in order to measure their effects on subjects. To maximize realism, these studies frequently lack informed consent - subjects do not know that they are subjects are in effect forced into experiments without their permission. Some of these experiments may have broad impacts on the communities in which they are situated, changing elections, affecting vaccination rates, and harming subjects.  In this paper, I examine the ethics of political science field experiments. I discuss core rights of subjects in research, examine several troubling examples, and show that many citizens resent this type of research imperialism. I conclude with proposals for improving the ethics of these types of studies while also allowing scholars to continue conducting important research.