On the protection of human subjects and social science.

The focus of this article has been the problem of simultaneously protecting research participants without destroying the potential for developing scientific knowledge about social and human phenomena. The damage to participants in social science research is an infrequent occurrence, that there is no objective evidence that it occurs. As social science becomes more potent, some research questions may require that subjects take risks in order to advance knowledge, much as in medical science. Social scientists cannot simultaneously attempt to develop a potent body of knowledge and expect to conduct harmless research. Any procedure, designed to protect human subjects that destroys the potential for creating scientific knowledge about social and human phenomena, is patently self-defeating. A major commitment to both the protection of human subjects, and the creation of science would suggest that substantial resources be committed to a procedure that attempts to achieve a reasonable balance.