3) Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at
the sociocultural level of analysis.
STUDIES TO BE USED IN THIS PAPER:
Attribution Theory: Zimbardo et al. (1973): Stanford Prison Experiment
Social Identity Theory: Sharif (1954): Robber’s Cave Study
Conformity: Asch (1951): Majority Influence
Emics and Etics: Tahassum et al. (2000): Depression across Cultures
ETHICAL ISSUES:
No informed consent, deception, psychological harm (stress unto individual), confidentiality (much too
personal information) -- some of these emerge because of the nature of the experiment
***APA Ethical Guidelines
***Cost-Benefit Analysis
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Integrate discussion of ethical issues as you go through explaining the
method and procedure itself. When possible, evaluate as well.
I.
Introduction
a. When conducting research studies in the Sociocultural Level of Analysis, it is vital that
psychologists remember to pay heed to the APA Ethical Guidelines, in order to assure
that their methods are sound and that their data will be valid.
b. Among the considerations listed in the APA Ethical Guidelines, a few become very
prominent and important in studies conducted in the Sociocultural LOA – namely,
informed consent, deception, psychological harm, and confidentiality.
c. It is important to note that some of these issues arise only due to the nature of the
experiment, and the uncontrollable way in which it proceeds and which experimenters
cannot foresee.
d. It is important to also be able to apply Cost-Benefit Analysis to the experiment in order to
determine whether certain sacrifices must be made for the good of the knowledge that the
results of the experiment may obtain.
e. This paper will aim to discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the
Sociocultural Level of Analysis by examining four studies – Zimbardo et al.’s (1973)
Stanford Prison Experiment, Sharif’s (1954) Robber’s Cave study, Asch’s (1951) study
on Conformity and the Majority Influence, and Tahassum et al.’s (2000) study on
Depression across Cultures.
II.
Attribution Theory: Zimbardo et al. (1973): Stanford Prison Experiment
a. Aim: To demonstrate the situation rather than the dispositional causes of behavior and
thought patters in a prison setting.
b. Procedures: 24 healthy male participants (primarily Caucasian) were randomly assigned
to play the roles of either guards or prisoners. The experiment took place in the basement
of the Stanford University Psychology Department. A mock prison was created, and
guards and prisoners had to wear costumes related to their roles. The experiment started
with a surprise public arrest (deception). Overt observation was used as a general
method. The experiment was supposed to run for 2 weeks, but it only ran for 6 days.
c. Findings: Prisoners experienced a loss of personal identity and were deprived of adequate
sleep and privacy. Half of the prisoners had to leave early because they developed
emotional and cognitive disorders. Data consisted mostly of videotapes, audiotapes,
questionnaires, personality self-reports, interviews, etc.
d. Conclusion: Situational factors are significant in determining a person’s behavior.
e. ETHICAL ISSUES
i. PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM (Relate to the nature of the experiment itself,
especially for the prisoners. Relate also to the role of the guards and their mental
states being affected by this experiment)
ii. PHYSICAL HARM (Some of the prisoners were subject to light forms of
“torture” from the guards and were made to do strenuous tasks)
iii. DECEPTION (The participants were not fully briefed on the nature of the
experiment, and it started with a surprise arrest)
III.
Social Identity Theory: Sharif (1954): Robber’s Cave Study
a. Aim: To determine the extent to which social identity theory affects the perceptions of
one group towards another group.
b. Procedures: This was a matched pairs’ experiment that involved covert observation. The
setting was a summer camp. 22 twelve year old boys were divided into two groups (the
rattlers and the eagles) and were made to stay on opposite ends of the camp for a number
of days. Afterwards, they were brought together and made to participate in
competitions.The experimenters observed hostility within the early days of contact. In
fact, it got so competitive that they could not continue activities safely. The groups were
then made to go integration activities and such common goals established cooperation.
Thus, the boys went through 3 phases: in-group formation, friction phase, and the
integration phase.
c. Findings and Conclusions: Boys were hostile at first, but then learned to work together
once there were integration activities. Therefore, though hostility between two opposing
groups can easily form, finding common ground can also lead to conflict resolution.
d. ETHICAL ISSUES
i. PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM (Competition was forced or imposed, which may
have caused stress or trouble for some individuals)
ii. INFORMED CONSENT (The participants did not know they were being
observed)
IV.
Conformity: Asch (1951): Majority Influence
a. Aim: To discover the extent to which a person would conform to a correct answer on a
test if the response from the other members of the group was unanimous.
b. Procedures: The participant was asked to enter a room with six people and the researcher.
The other people in the room were dressed in suits and ties and were pretending to be
participants when, in fact, they were part of the study. These people are called
confederates, and they helped deceive the participant. Participants were shown cards
with lines and were asked to select the line from another card that matched the length of
the first line of the card. There were 18 trials in total, and confederates answered
correctly for some and incorrectly for others.
c. Findings and Conclusions: About 75% of the participants agreed with the confederates’
incorrect responses at least once.32% of the participants agreed with incorrect responses
in half or more of the trials. However, 24% did NOT conform to any of the incorrect
responses given by the confederates. This, nevertheless, still showed how the needto be
part of the group is stronger than the desire to give the correct answer (majority
influence).
d. ETHICAL ISSUES
i. DECEPTION (The use of confederates and the deliberate misleading of the
nature of the experiment were not truthful in their aims and their methods)
ii. PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS (Being the only person at odds when it comes to
making a decision or giving an aswer may have caused undue mental stress to the
participants)
V.
Emics and Etics: Tahassum et al. (2000): Depression across Cultures
a. Aim: To discover the differences between the emics and etics of depression which are
used to evaluate it and treat it among ethnic populations living in a Western culture
(Pakistanis in the U.K.)
b. Procedures: Interviews were used and compared to determine the emic definitions of
symptoms of depression among Pakistanis living in the United Kingdom, and were crossreferenced with the existing etic descriptions used by Western psychiatrists. First and
second generation Pakistani women were used as participants (22 males and 57 females
took part since females could not meet with researchers alone), and all lived in a poor
urban setting. Interviews were conducted in a mixture of languages, and since only some
families allowed recording of interviews, researchers had to rely on taking detailed notes.
The interviews had 21 questions regarding the perception on the causes of the disorder,
seeking help, community status of those with the disease, etc.
c. Findings and Conclusions: 63% viewed aggression as a main symptom of abnormality,
while 63% also said that stress was a primary factor. 25% percent of the participants
attributed mental disorders to supernatural causes and 35% believed in faith healers.
Most males thought a doctor should be consulted for treatment. Fewer females identified
a doctor as the first person to consult, but there may be cultural barriers to women getting
help from doctors. This helped researchers identity barriers that women face in getting
mental health services and identifying the differences between emic and etic approaches
in understanding mental disorders.
d. ETHICAL ISSUES
i. INFORMED CONSENT (As most of the participants were not in sound mental
state, it was impossible to get full informed consent, though their husbands did so
for them)
VI.
ii. CONFIDENTIALITY (Most of the questions asked were very personal, and the
pressure of having the researchers asking them directly might have been to much
for the participants to deny)
iii. PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS (Bringing back these memories or allowing this
information to resurface may have been too much for the participants to handle,
especially in their fragile emotional state)
Conclusion
a. Though following the APA Ethical Guidelines is essential to pursuing proper and sound
research, it is important to also be able to apply Cost-Benefit Analysis to the experiment
in order to determine whether certain sacrifices must be made for the good of the
knowledge that the results of the experiment may obtain.
b. Strengths: Debriefing and Informed Consent
c. Weaknesses: Psychological Harm or Stress and Deception
d. At the end of the day, these four experiments mentioned were able to make amazing leaps
and discoveries in the theories and areas that they investigated, and much of the ethical
considerations can be nullified because of this.