Ethical violations in Professor Ludwig's research on family violence

¶ … 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with nothing to hide would allow their children to participate, while children with violent family histories might be withdrawn from the study, or pressured by their parents to lie.