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

Sun Jan 14 09:15:14 PST 2018

As some of you know, I have long endorsed violating ToSs as a matter of
principle, whenever practicable. That said:

I would have a serious problem with compelling subjects--and particularly
minors--to do so. I presume that, as with any research, the participants
could opt out. But this places what I would consider an unfair burden on
minors to make the choice to violate an agreement (though, yes, an
agreement with a minor may not be *legally* binding) in order to help the
researcher complete her or his research. The benefit to the participant or
to society is not obviously outweighed by this risk (though Charles hasn't
noted that benefit--I'm presuming). Unless this is secretly a study on
compliance with authority...

There is a second practical matter. When I have used FB for teaching, I
have given students the option of participating with a fake account. A
number of such students have had difficulty forming a fake account and
having FB allow it. I too have found creating fake accounts to be more than
trivial. FB apparently uses a range of checks to detect potential fakes,
including multiple logins from the same IP. Do they also require a phone
number now? So you may be making a significant ask.

Both of these problems could be at least partially alleviated by
establishing the fake identities *for* the participants. In that case the
researcher has both the legal burden and the practical burden of
establishing the accounts. I suspect this is why Liz's IRB may have OKed
fake accounts... This adds a wrinkle if participants cannot change the
passwords and researchers have full access to the accounts...

And Peter is right about disagreement. I don't believe that "Everyone"
posts on FB require additional consent to be viewed--and neither does our
IRB.

Best,

Alex

-- 

// Alexander Halavais, Sociologist, Semiologist, and Saboteur Extraordinaire
// Director of the MA in Social Technologies, Arizona State University
// http://alex.halavais.net/bio     @halavais

On Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 8:17 PM, Peter Timusk <peterotimusk at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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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