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CMU/Ethics thing
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 1995 11:58:29 -0400
I have abstracted the begnning and end out of a facinating document on the ethical issues raised my the CMU/Rimm affair. I thought the full article might be a bit much for IP. This whole matter raises very interesting questions as more and more computer scientists slip into the world of networking and start having to face the human/ethical issues that field presents. Dave ps, if you want the whole article let me know From: Jim Thomas (tk0jut1 () mvs cso niu edu) <TK0JUT1 () MVS CSO NIU EDU> Jim Thomas Department of Sociology Northern Illinois University It's unfortunate that there are some researchers, even prestigious ones, who fail to recognize that the same ethical principles that apply to off-line research apply on-line as well. Conventions that prohibit deception, invasion of privacy, placing human subjects at risk, and possible fraudulent data gathering are not considered a normal part of research. It is especially sad when a research study carrying the name of a prestigious national university errs so egregiously as occured in the Carnegie Mellon study of "Net pornography." The Carnegie Mellon study was published in the Georgetown Law Journal (Vol. 83, 1995: pp 1839-1934) and featured as the cover story of Time Magazine (Jun 3, 1995; See CuD 7.56). The primary focus of the study was an analysis of the text descriptions from adult BBSes specializing in erotica, and a secondary focus was on Usenet erotica files from the alt.binaries hierarchy. The intellectual substance of the study has been convincingly discredited (see the Hoffman/Novak critique at http://www2000.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu). However, the ethics of the study have not yet fully been addressed. Because of the implications of the ethical violations for cyberspace, and because the violations occured in the name of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the implications cannot go unaddressed. [ deleted for compactness djf] SUMMARY The broad principles and explicit guidelines that alert human subjects researchers to potential ethical problems are intended to 1) protect subjects from risk, 2) minimize potential harm resulting from exposure to research methods or results, 3) assure the subjects are fully informed that research is occurring, 4) assure that data is collected in a manner consistent with privacy tenets, and 5) assure that deception or fraud in research do not occur. The Carnegie Mellon study demonstrably violated each of these tenets. Some might argue that the principle investigator bears the responsibility for the ethical lapses. Perhaps. But, as the NIU guidelines--which are standard among research universities--indicate, the faculty advisor and oversight committees within an institution's administration are ultimately responsible. It is the principle faculty advisor who bears the immediate responsibility for socializing and mentoring the student into the world of empirical research, and this socialization includes imparting ethical precepts. Because the research was funded with four Carnegie Mellon Small Undergraduate Research Grants (SURG) (GLJ, p. 1849), those who reviewed grant proposals are also responsible for the ethical failures of the study. If the CMU human subjects review board read the proposals and did not respond negatively to the deceptive methodology (which would presumably be specified in the proposals), they, too must accept responsibility for the deception. If, as the principal investigator's comments suggest, subjects were defrauded into participating by being deceived into believing that they were receiving marketing consultation rather than being the subjects of a covert study that would put them and their users at potential risk, then perhaps the human subjects' review committee should re-read Federal and other documents or, better, take a refresher course in basic ethics. In the end, however, Carnegie Mellon University must accept the ultimate responsibility for their unethical behavior. This is, after all, the CARNEGIE MELLON study: It has been so-labeled in the GLJ article; It is so-labeled by the media; It is so-labeled by Congressional observers; It is so-labeled by the commentators of the study in the GLJ review who respond to the study; and, above all, it is so-labeled by Carnegie Mellon University itself. When asked point-blank if this is a Carnegie Mellon study conducted under the auspices of Carnegie Mellon, and a study to which Carnegie Mellon gives its name, a spokesperson in the public relations office said, "Yes." She then indicated as evidence the list of nearly two dozen CMU and other personnel, including professors, deans, and administrators, who participated. There seems to be a rather long list of people on the Carnegie Mellon research team who might have benefited from familiarization with social science ethics. On the other hand, if Carnegie Mellon condones such ethical lapses, then the debates following Laud Humphries' research were over nothing. But, I doubt if any serious social scientists would accept that. -------------------- Jim Thomas is a professor of sociology/criminal justice at Northern Illinois University. He is also co-editor of Cu Digest. Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~jthomas
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