I thoroughly enjoyed Dean Sharpe's lecture today and could completely understand how one could dedicate their career to the ethics of research.
While at times I'm sure this position can be rife with conflict, I was impressed by the passion he had for developing policy and protecting the rights of participants.
I couldn't help but think of those 'research scandals" he alluded to and in particular found myself thinking of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. I remember studying this case while doing my undergrad and being horrified at how these research projects could have been done. Forget the policy for a moment. How could anyone, let alone academics from reputable institutions be responsible for some of these outrageous and shocking cases? Is it because it is reflective of the innate evil nature of those with power to corrupt those without it? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason, I sit down to my research proposal tonight giving more thought than ever to the ethical considerations and the methods I am choosing.
Out of interest here is a link for a summary of the Stanford Prison Experiment http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Stanford:prison:experiment.html
And just as a reminder so that as researchers we never forget the impact that our research may have on a participant -- The Milgram Experiment on Obedience conducted at Yale University. No matter how important the research question, we cannot let academia and the search for knowledge cloud our judgements and thoughts on first what it means to be human.
http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/milgram.htm
Now off to that proposal and the daunting task of "framing" my own research proposal.
A bit late to comment I know but your mention of the Milgram experiment caught my eye. I've always been really fascinated by that experiment and it is often one of those examples that pops into my head constantly when I'm debating something or just talking about human behaviour. I think it's memorability comes from the disproportionately large amount of significance that it derived from a relatively simple experiment. That said, I've never really thought about the ethical consequences for the participants. Interestingly the article that you link to suggests that only 1% of participants in Milgram's experient regretted their involvement. Nevertheless, I suppose that 1% is still enough to question his methods.
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