¶ … Ethical Case Study
What ethical principle(s) do you think was (were) violated in the research?
The most obvious problem with the research methodology of Professor Ludwig is the fact that the student's records were accessed without their direct consent, and used for research purposes. Also, soliciting young people for use in a study in general without parental consent, even if the students are willing, is problematic, especially given the potentially sensitive content of the research. Parents might object to their children being encouraged to reveal confidential family information, or simply being exposed to information about violence.
Describe probable reason(s) Professor Ludwig violated the principle(s) you noted in your answer to question 1.
Professor Ludwig no doubt wanted as representative a sampling as he could possibly obtain. Students might object having their confidential records accessed by the professor, and parents might object to allowing their children to participate in a study on family violence. Professor Ludwig might argue that to obtain parental consent for the children to participate in the research study would ultimately skew the results of the study. Only parents with nothing to hide would allow their children to participate, while children with violent family histories might be withdrawn from the study, or pressured by their parents to lie.
Additionally, students might not want their records accessed, if there was potentially damaging evidence in their records, out of embarrassment or fear. Thus, to ensure that the study was valid, and to obtain a more representative cross-section of individuals, Ludwig violated basic ethical research principles of parental consent for participation for minors and did not obtain standard confidentiality waivers.
Describe your reactions to the way this study was done.
Regardless of Ludwig's rationale, no individual's personal rights can be sacrificed to the personal needs and desires of the researcher, however much Ludwig and those like him might cloak their unethical behavior in the language of 'science.'
