Ethics Despite the fact that social psychological research typically does not have life and death consequences, such research can have an impact on individual health and well-being. Whether through participation in the study itself or through the implications of research findings, research may have unintended and unethical consequences. It is therefore incumbent on anyone conducting social psychological research to be familiar with both APA’s policies and those of their institution’s institutional review board regarding research with human participants. For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources. Think about what ethical considerations you might need to make related to social psychology research. With these thoughts in mind: Post by Day 4 a brief explanation of how you might use ethics when forming your research question (use the APA’s Code of Conduct to inform your response). Then explain two potential consequences if ethics are not considered. Finally, explain two ways culture might inform the development of your research question, and explain what ethical considerations you may need to consider. References/Readings · Course Text: Fiske, S. T. (2014). Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. . Chapter 2, “Scientific Methods for Studying People in Interaction” · Course Text: The Handbook of Social Psychology . Chapter 1, “History of Social Psychology: Insights, Challenges and Contributions to Theory and Application” · Course Text: The Sage Handbook of Social Psychology . Chapter 2, “Questions and Comparisons: Methods of Research”  · Article: Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). Ways of constructing research questions: Gap spotting or problemization? Organization, 18(1), 23–44. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. · Website: American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved November 30, 2011, fromhttp://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx Application: Research There are many psychological approaches to addressing social problems (e.g., clinical, developmental, cognitive, phenomenological, neurobiological, behavioral). The social psychological approach is only one among many. Given that this is a social psychology course, the final paper requires evidence of your mastery of the theories and research you've studied over these past 11 weeks. Your task is, therefore, (1) to review the social psychological literature that pertains to a given social problem of your choice; (2) to identify gaps in that literature that need to be studied; and (3) to identify a potential research question that needs to be studied so that you may add to the literature and advance knowledge that can benefit society. The Assignment (5–7 pages) · Select and describe a social problem in your field of interest. · Explain why you selected the social problem. · Research at least five journal articles related to the social problem. · Describe two gap ...

1. Ethics
Despite the fact that social psychological research typically
does not have life and death consequences, such research can
have an impact on individual health and well-being. Whether
through participation in the study itself or through the
implications of research findings, research may have unintended
and unethical consequences. It is therefore incumbent on anyone
conducting social psychological research to be familiar with
both APA’s policies and those of their institution’s institutional
review board regarding research with human participants.
For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources.
Think about what ethical considerations you might need to make
related to social psychology research.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 a brief explanation of how you might use ethics
when forming your research question (use the APA’s Code of
Conduct to inform your response). Then explain two potential
consequences if ethics are not considered. Finally, explain two
ways culture might inform the development of your research
question, and explain what ethical considerations you may need
to consider.
References/Readings
· Course Text: Fiske, S. T. (2014). Social beings: Core motives
in social psychology. (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
. Chapter 2, “Scientific Methods for Studying People in
Interaction”
· Course Text: The Handbook of Social Psychology
. Chapter 1, “History of Social Psychology: Insights, Challenges
and Contributions to Theory and Application”
· Course Text: The Sage Handbook of Social Psychology
. Chapter 2, “Questions and Comparisons: Methods of
Research”

2. · Article: Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). Ways of
constructing research questions: Gap spotting or
problemization? Organization, 18(1), 23–44.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
· Website: American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical
principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved
November 30, 2011,
fromhttp://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
Application: Research
There are many psychological approaches to addressing social
problems (e.g., clinical, developmental, cognitive,
phenomenological, neurobiological, behavioral). The social
psychological approach is only one among many. Given that this
is a social psychology course, the final paper requires evidence
of your mastery of the theories and research you've studied over
these past 11 weeks.
Your task is, therefore, (1) to review the social psychological
literature that pertains to a given social problem of your choice;
(2) to identify gaps in that literature that need to be studied; and
(3) to identify a potential research question that needs to be
studied so that you may add to the literature and advance
knowledge that can benefit society.
The Assignment (5–7 pages)
· Select and describe a social problem in your field of interest.
· Explain why you selected the social problem.
· Research at least five journal articles related to the social
problem.
· Describe two gaps in the literature related to the social
problem you selected in which you could develop further
research and justify your selection.
· Through a social psychology lens, develop a research question
that a social psychologist might use to conduct research.

3. References/Readings
· Course Text: Fiske, S. T. (2014). Social beings: Core motives
in social psychology. (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
. Chapter 2, “Scientific Methods for Studying People in
Interaction”
· Course Text: The Handbook of Social Psychology
. Chapter 1, “History of Social Psychology: Insights, Challenges
and Contributions to Theory and Application”
· Course Text: The Sage Handbook of Social Psychology
. Chapter 2, “Questions and Comparisons: Methods of
Research”
· Article: Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). Ways of
constructing research questions: Gap spotting or
problemization? Organization, 18(1), 23–44.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
· Website: American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical
principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved
November 30, 2011,
fromhttp://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx