[Air-L] research ethics again - students and FB

Peter Timusk peterotimusk at gmail.com
Fri Jan 12 19:17:10 PST 2018


I agree with professor Christopher here on the ethics and harm questions
presented in the thread. 


Also I disagree with some researchers here, in that, just because something
is online in public view, does not give us the right to make data with it.
Example: an open Facebook group cannot be used for data without each
contributor's express explicit consent to have their content treated as
data. I work in government where there are laws concerning my use of our
study data. I may be more conservative in this view of privacy and/or
copyright.

I want to add and I do not mean to troll but  apparently Inuit eat seals and
have traditional ways of life, I have eaten cows including baby cows as
veal, apparently some people eat dogs.

Cats apparently rule the Internet. 

Peter Timusk B.Math ( statistics), B.A. (legal studies) Graduate school in
systems sciences.


-----Original Message-----
From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of
Christopher J. Richter
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 2:57 AM
To: Sohail Dahdal
Cc: air-l
Subject: Re: [Air-L] research ethics again - students and FB

As Sohail Dahdal clarifies, the ethics of human subject research turn not on
whether the actions subjects are directed to do are laudable, but whether
the research involves risk of harm to the participants, in this case,
minors. 

Risks for the participants of the study as proposed might also include that
of being denied social media service in future, which for some folks I know
would be devastating!

As for Dan's hypothetical, yes, requiring participants to face risk of
arrest (or of being handcuffed, which can be terrifying and actually can
hurt, or tear gassed, or billy clubbed or even shot-sometimes the degree of
real world risk is difficult to assess) is unethical, especially if, as
minors, they are not legally capable of making decisions about the risk
themselves.

Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA,
USA

> On Jan 12, 2018, at 7:46 AM, Sohail Dahdal <sohail.dahdal at gmail.com>
wrote:
> 
> Asking your research subjects to do ethical illegal actions could be
either 'ethical research' or not depending on any risk that you might expose
your subject to...
> 
> In that sense highly ethical actions could actually be highly unethical
research. 
> 
> In the case of FB fake accounts, you have to ask, about the risk to your
subject including the risk of forming bas habits not just the legal
implications.
> 
> Prof Sohail Dahdal,
> American University of Sharjah
> 
>> On 12 Jan 2018, at 3:30 am, Dan L. Burk <dburk at uci.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> So we seem to agree on your second statement. 
>> 
>> Regarding the first: suppose that Charles designs a study that asks 
>> minors (or really anyone) to engage in civil disobedience.  Perhaps 
>> he asks them to trespass, with a risk of arrest and an arrest record.  
>> For good reasons, like saving baby seals or giving persons of color 
>> seats at the lunch counter or something.
>> 
>> Definitely illegal.  But also highly ethical behavior on the part of 
>> the study subjects.
>> 
>> ls Charles behaving unethically in asking them to behave highly 
>> ethically but illegally?
>> 
>> Not really my rodeo, but I strongly suspect that the behavior is 
>> ethical all the way down.
>> 
>> Cheers, DLB
>> 
>>> On 2018-01-10 22:07, Christopher J. Richter wrote:
>>> 
>>> Ah, but the question is not whether it is ethical for the minors to
violate a (for them) non-binding agreement, but whether it is ethical for
the presumably adult researcher to require it of them. And just because
something is legal, that does not make it ethical. 
>>> 
>>> Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. 
>>> Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University 
>>> Roanoke VA, USA
>>> 
>>> On Jan 10, 2018, at 11:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk at uci.edu> wrote:
>>> 
>>> So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even
necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the
specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical
(it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more
general assertion that violations of law are always unethical. 
>>> 
>>> Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally
can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract
for them to violate.
>>> 
>>> None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you
decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons. 
>>> 
>>> Cheers, DLB
>>> 
>>> Dan L. Burk
>>> Chancellor's Professor of Law
>>> University of California, Irvine
>>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>> 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar <b975a236.gif>
>>> 
>>> On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote: 
>>> Dear Charles,
>>> 
>>> TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed
any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract,
whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it. 
>>> 
>>> Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on
the fake accounts are deceiving.  Deception, by definition, undermines
informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's
problematic.
>>> 
>>> Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D.
>>> Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University 
>>> Roanoke VA, USA
>>> 
>>> On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess at media.uio.no>
wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear AoIRists,
>>> 
>>> What are your thoughts regarding the following?
>>> 
>>> A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors -
and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing
in an educational context?
>>> Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.
>>> 
>>> I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed
results, i.e., some for, some concerned).
>>> 
>>> But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the
problem.
>>> 
>>> Many thanks in advance,
>>> - charles
>>> --
>>> Professor in Media Studies
>>> Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo 
>>> <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
>>> 
>>> Postboks 1093
>>> Blindern 0317
>>> Oslo, Norway
>>> c.m.ess at media.uio.no
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>> 
>> --
>> 
>> --
>> Dan L. Burk
>> Chancellor's Professor of Law
>> University of California, Irvine
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar
>> 
>> 
>> Links:
>> ------
>> [1] http://aoir.org
>> [2] http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>> <b975a236.gif>
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