In this discussion assignment you will read an article discussing a recent psychological research project that has raised novel questions about research ethics related to the collection and analysis of "Big Data." This exercise will challenge you to apply the research ethics principles that you learned about in the TCPS CORE tutorial to comment on the novel problems that arise in Big Data research projects.
Here are some sample questions that you might consider to guide your reflections:
If an experiment such as this falls under the 'data use policy' in the terms of service that Facebook users agree to when they join Facebook, does this mean that the participants' informed consent was effectively obtained in this study? If so, why do you think this represents informed consent? If not, how did the study deviate from standards for informed consent?
Was deception used in this experiment? If so, how were participants deceived in this study? If deception was used what ethical concerns does this raise about the study, and how effectively did the researchers handle these ethical concerns?
Given that the Cornell researchers were only involved after the data had already been collected by Facebook and were only involved in analyzing the data and writing up the study for publication do you agree with the decision of Cornell's Institutional Review Board that the Cornell researchers were exempted from ethics review because their activities did not involve direct engagement in human research?
Why do you think this research generated so many alarmed reactions when it was publicized? Do you think those reactions were justified? If so, why?
If Facebook researchers conduct a study like this again in the future, what, if anything, should they do differently to address some of the ethical concerns that were raised?