Question

No consent needed? In which of the circumstances below would you allow collecting personal

information without the subjects’ consent?

(a) A government agency takes a random sample of income tax returns to obtain information on the average income of people in different occupations. Only the incomes and occupations are recorded from the returns, not the names.

(b) A social psychologist attends public meetings of a religious group to study the behavior patterns of members.

(c) A social psychologist pretends to be converted to membership in a religious group and attends private meetings to study the behavior patterns of members.

Short answer

Part (a) The consent is not needed.

Part (b) The consent is not needed.

Part (c) The consent is needed.

Step-by-step solution

Part (a) Step 1: Given information

A government agency obtains information on the average salary of people in various jobs by randomly sampling income tax returns.

Part (a) Step 2: Concept

Individuals are purposely subjected to a treatment in order to measure their responses in an experiment.

Part (a) Step 3: Explanation

It is assumed that a government agency obtains information on the average income of persons in various jobs by randomly sampling income tax returns. The names are not recorded in the returns, only the earnings and occupations. As a result, because the names are not recorded, it will be impossible to identify the income or occupation to a single person, and so no consent is required.

Part (b) Step 1: Explanation

It is stated that social psychologists attend public gatherings of religious groups in order to analyse members' behavioural patterns. As a result, in this scenario, the sessions are open to the public, and anybody is welcome to attend, implying that no consent is required as long as the psychologist does not mislead the other participants.

Part (c) Step 1: Explanation

It is stated that social psychologists pretend to be converted to religious groups and attend secret meetings in order to analyze members' behavioral patterns. As a psychologist is intentionally misleading the members and attending private sessions in this scenario, consent is required.