Social Research Methods and Analysis

Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment (2 min) Stanford Prison Experiment (5.5 min) BBC - The Stanford Prison Experiment - 1/3 BBC - The Stanford Prison Experiment - 2/3 The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Psychology Professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., at Stanford University. Twenty-four undergraduates were selected out of over 75 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Roles were assigned at random. The participants adapted to their roles well beyond what even Zimbardo himself expected, leading the guards to display authoritarian measures. The experiment even affected Zimbardo himself. Five of the prisoners were upset enough by the process to quit the experiment early, and the entire experiment was abruptly stopped after only six days. The experimenta...

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (5 min) LeNoir: Tuskegee Syphilis Study (46 min) ------------------------ Research Ethics: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is one of the most horrendous examples of research carried out in disregard of basic ethical principles of conduct. The publicity surrounding the study was one of the major influences leading to the codification of protection for human subjects. In 1928, the director of medical services for the Julius Rosenwald Fund, a Chicago-based charity, approached the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) to consider ways to improve the health of African Americans in the South. At the time, the PHS had just finished a study of the prevalence of syphilis among black employees of the Delta Pine and Land Company of Mississippi. About 25% of the sample of over 2000 had tested positive for syphilis. The PHS and the Rosenwald fund collaborated in treating these individuals. Subsequently, the treatment program was expanded to include fiv...