WEEK 2
Sociologist Rik Scarce went to jail because he refused to identify someone who was thought to be his research participant and had engaged in criminal activity. Scarce believed that revealing his research participant’s identity would have violated the confidentiality he had promised them. Please read the article about Rik Scarce and the ASA code of ethics (pages 10 – 11) (linked below), as well as the Week 2 learning resources. This discussion question has two parts:
Part 1:Do you think Rik Scarce should have gone to jail for protecting the identity of his research participant? Why or why not? In your response, identify and explain a situation in which a researcher should reveal the identity of their participants and a situation in which they should not. Importantly, based on what you learned in this week’s learning resources explain the most ethical approach to resolving situations when researchers are asked to identify their research participants. Your explanation should specifically reference the ASA Code of Ethics to support your response.
Part 2:Reviewing the various types of research in the Week 2 learning resources, which research method do you think would be most vulnerable to ethical problems? Which research method do you think would be least vulnerable to ethical problems? Please explain your answers using specific examples and concepts from the Week 2 learning resources.
References and Citations
Here are the references you should cite in your main post:
American Sociological Association. (2018). Code of ethics.
University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Week 2. How sociologists conduct research. Document posted in UMGC SOCY 100 online classroom, archived at
Make sure to include the complete reference information at the end of your post. If you refer to any additional sources, please be sure to include them in your reference list as well.
When referring to the different topics of the material in the Learning Resources within your posts, use the following citation format: (UMGC, n.d., name of topic).
For example: (UMGC, n.d., Research Methods) or (UMGC, n.d., Ethical Concerns). For the article by Scarce, the citation is (Scarce, 2013).
If you use any additional sources in your posts, be sure to cite them in the post and include the full reference information at the end of the post. To learn more about how to cite in APA style, visit the UMGC Library at APA 7th Edition Citation Examples: General Rules.
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