Ethics and Stanley Milgram

Stanley Milgram's 1962 social psychological study on obedience and conformity were ethically questionable because
a) subjects were physically harmed in the study by the administered electro-shocks.
b) the results of the respondents' surveys were not kept anonymous or confidential.
c) subjects were deceived into thinking they were causing extreme physical harm to another.
d) participation in the study by the subjects was involuntary.












Answer:
a) Incorrect - in the study, no subjects were physically harmed. However, participants were deceived into thinking they were physically harming someone.
b) Incorrect - this study was an experiement and did not involve surveys.
c) Correct -The study involved a situation where the subjects were "teachers" who were to punish a "student" whenever he answered a question incorrectly by administering electro-shocks. Really, the "student" only feigned the pain and the electro-shocks were not real, but the subjects believed they were truly harming the individual.
d) Incorrect - Milgram's subjects were all voluntary and consisted of 40 men within ages 20 to 40 from the New Haven, CT area.

sources: Milgram Experiment video (http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/5512184), Babbie Ch 3 pg 73-74