General Instructions
The assignment should be typed and double spaced. Assignments should be between 3 to 5 pages long, not including the references. There is no required format for this assignment. I encourage you to use APA style for your citations, but you can also use other formats such as MLA or ASA/ASR.
You should choose one of these two topics. Please indicate which topic you are choosing in the beginning of your assignment.
Assignment Instructions
Choose one of the two topics described below. Briefly describe the ethic dilemma that is presented. What of the ethical issues discussed in the course (i.e., no harm to participants, anonymity and confidentiality, voluntary participation, subject deception) is potentially violated by the research discussed? What are the harms and benefits of that research? Based on the three principles discussed in the Belmont Report, do you think the research should be approved by an IRB Board? Briefly explain why.
Topic 1
Water access in Kenyan slums: Researchers examined the best strategies to increase payment compliance for water and sewage services using an experiment (randomized controlled trial) in Nairobi Slums. They tested two different interventions when landlords failed to pay for the services: soft encouragement of payment by informing tenants of landlords’ nonpayment and hard threat of disconnection and eventual disconnection of tenants’ services if landlords failed to pay. They found that the second strategy produced higher rates of compliance with payments.
More information about the study and the ethical debate it posits can be found here:
· Paper abstract (full article available on Canvas or through FSU libraries): https://www.nber.org/papers/w27569
· Twitter discussions (warning, some threads include profanity):
o https://twitter.com/joshbudlender/status/1292170843389386761
o https://twitter.com/raulpacheco/status/1292268870917595137
· Authors replies:
o https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nVGR4qlhWt2EcNiy6d02By3e4kptVSer/view
o https://twitter.com/DanStein_econ/status/1292348661691592704
Topic 2
Parole monitoring: A new study is working on predicting recidivism using Artificial Intelligence. To do so, it will collect data from bracelets and smartphones of released prisoners (i.e., location, hearth rate, stress, photos) to identify situations and factors that potentially place individuals at risk of recidivism.
More information about the study and the ethical debate it posits can be found here:
· https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2020/Q3/artificial-intelligence-examines-best-ways-to-keep-parolees-from-recommitting-crimes.html
· https://venturebeat.com/2020/08/14/problematic-study-on-indiana-parolees-seeks-to-predict-recidivism-with-ai/
