HW 1 PS

© Park University SO308 – Assignment 1 – Page 1 7/15/2011

Week 1 Assignment – “Research Ethics”

Learning Outcomes

9. Apply the principles of ethical research.

Directions Assignment 1 – “Research Ethics” exercise (20 points or 2% of your overall grade, due Sunday at midnight CST of Week 1). For this assignment, select either the “Milgram experiment of obedience to authority” or the “Stanford Prison Experiment.” Both are classic studies in social psychology that have long raised uncomfortable ethical debates about the limits of responsible social research. You might begin here for brief overviews (but do not limit yourself — there are many excellent references to draw from, on the web or in print): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

A summarize what you feel to be the important points of the selected project

B identify at least three accepted modern standards of social research

C explain whether it does or does not live up to these three standards

D if it does not live up to a standard, explain what could be done to fix the problem or to prevent the problem in other situations

E Post a synopsis of your paper in the “Reflections” discussion thread and respond to at least 2 other student postings

Submitting the Assignment and Due Date Submit your project to the Dropbox by Sunday midnight CST of Week 1.

Format General Format (this applies to all assignments in this course!)

o Please include a cover page with your name on it. o Format the paper using a 12 point font and double spaced. o The format and appearance should be professional and will be included as a portion of your

grade. Use any report format you desire, all I ask is that the document looks and reads at a professional and/or college level of work.

o You should provide a reference to any citation used in your work using APA format.

© Park University SO308 – Assignment 1 – Page 2 7/15/2011

Grading Criteria This assignment is worth 20 points.

Requirements: Points

Covered the topic and project requirements thoroughly:

A - summarize what you feel to be the important points of the selected project

3

B - identify at least three accepted modern standards of social research

4

C - explain whether it does or does not live up to these three standards

4

D - if it does not live up to a standard, explain what could be done to fix the problem or to prevent the problem in other situations

4

E - Post a synopsis of your paper in the “Reflections” discussion thread and respond to at least 2 other student postings

3

Format – including web site citations, etc. 2

Total 20

Questions and Issues: If you have any questions or issues, please post them to the Q & A discussion thread.