Abstract

SALOMONE, Gabriela Z.  and  FARINA, Juan Jorge Michel. Ethical and methodological issues involved in the replica of Stanley Milgram's experiment - 45 years later. Anu. investig. [online]. 2009, vol.16, pp.277-284. ISSN 1851-1686.

The results of Jerry Burger's investigation, a partial replica of Stanley Milgram's famous study on obedience to authority, were published in 2009. 45 years after the original experiment was conducted, the ethical and methodological issues surrounding this study inevitably resurfaced. Said ethical issues can be organized into three different levels: (1) The ethical premises which outline the practice of deception in research. What are these premises? Why have there been so many objections to Milgram's experiment? Finally, is it possible to replicate this experiment in a manner which would salvage it from these objections? (2) The applicability of a particular context of an investigation. Is it accurate to use the results of this study to explain the phenomenon of obedience to authority in contexts as diverse as those presented by Nazism, My Lai (Vietnam), Argentina's military dictatorship (1976-83), Guantanamo, or Abu Ghraib? (3) The conditions which outline the possibility of transmission of results as controversial as those presented in the subject matter and methodology of this kind of experiment. Which are the currently existing ethical principles regarding "objectivity in teaching"? Which ethical perspective is Milgram's experiment attempting to transmit to students? In regards to this last point, this article pretends to discuss the existing parameters in the areas of Deception in research and Informed consent, analyzing the ethical and methodological implications of the "150 volts solution" proposed by Burger in his replica.

Keywords : Authority; Obedience; Milgram; Informed consent.

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