INTRO TO
SOCIOLOGY
D R . J E N N H AY L E T T
ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL
RESEARCH
• Do no harm!
• Informed Consent
• Voluntary Participation
• Overall: Consider effect of research on lives of those you study
Source: Babbie, Earl. The Basics of Social Research. Fourth Edition; http://hso.research.uiowa.edu/files/hso.research.uiowa.edu/files/default_images/HSOeBook.jpg
ETHICS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH:
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
BOARDS
– Governed by federal law
– Response to medical
atrocities
• WWII
– Nazi medical
experiments
– Nuremberg war
trials
• Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Source: Babbie, Earl. The Basics of Social Research. Fourth Edition; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment
CULTURE
NACIREMA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5B9lvYqZgA
WHO ARE THE NACIREMA?
Nacirema spelled backwards:
AMERICAN
ETHNOCENTRISM
• Ethnocentrism: “The belief that
one’s own culture or group is
superior to others, and the tendency
to view all other cultures from the
perspective of one’s own.”
• Xenophobia: “The dislike of that
which is perceived to be foreign or
strange.”
• Cultural relativism: “taking into
account the differences across
cultures without passing judgment
or assigning value.”
Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-So3sC7ck7rI/Tb_hib_4CbI/AAAAAAAAADk/LE2_kow43os/s1600/ethnocentrism101.jpg
CULTURE
• Challenge:View what we see as “natural” or
“normal” as a product of culture.
• Culture- “Shared understandings that people use
to coordinate their activities.”
• A resource- Cultural Scripts
• We create culture continuously!
• Culture can be constraining
VALUES & NORMS
• Which one of these revolves
around the Earth?
– The sun
– The moon
Values- abstract cultural beliefs
Norms- social expectations that
guide behavior
– Venus
– Mars
• Audience Poll- 56% The Sun
Source: https://www.ludia.com/storage/content/games/116/main.jpg
THANKS!