(a) Milgram's experiments into obedience can be criticised as being unethical. Describe two ethical issues that can be illustrated by Milgram's research. [4 marks]

(b) Choose one of the ethical issues identified in your answer to (a) and explain a way of dealing with it. [2 marks]

Answer:

(a) One issue is that Milgram failed to protect his participants from harm. This was

evidenced by the significant distress that many of the participants experienced during the experiment, which may have persisted even after the study's conclusion, leading to feelings of guilt.

Another ethical issue is the use of deception. Migram deceived his participants by leading them to believe that the study was on the effect of punishment on learning, and that they had an equal chance of becoming the teacher or the learner, despite the fact that it was rigged.

(b) One way of dealing with the issue of deception is to provide a full debrief at the end of the study. During the debrief, participants should be told the true aims of the research, the reasons for the deception, and reassured that their behaviour was normal and understandable.