subject

(noun)

A human research subject is a living individual about whom a research investigator (whether a professional or a student) obtains data.

Related Terms

Examples of subject in the following topics:

  • Confidentiality

    • Sociologists should take all necessary steps to protect the privacy and confidentiality of their subjects.
    • In any sociological research conducted on human subjects, the sociologists should take all the steps necessary to protect the privacy and confidentiality of their subjects.
    • For example, when a survey is used, the data should be coded to protect the anonymity of the subjects.
    • Any research notes that might identify subjects should be stored securely.
    • Give examples of how the anonymity of a research subject can be protected

  • Misleading Research Subjects

    • If a researcher deceives or conceals the purpose or procedure of a study, they are misleading their research subjects.
    • Asch put a subject in a room with other participants who appeared to be normal subjects but who were actually part of the experiment.
    • If subjects knew beforehand that the study was investigating conformity, they would have reacted differently.
    • Some sociology studies involve intentionally deceiving subjects about the nature of the research.
    • This approach respects the autonomy of individuals because subjects consent to the deception.

  • The Milgram Experiment: The Power of Authority

    • The volunteer subject used a list of word pairs to play the role of "teacher" with another participant, the "learner".
    • The subjects believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks.
    • Some test subjects paused at 135 volts and began to question the purpose of the experiment.
    • If the subject still wished to stop after all four successive verbal prods, the experiment was halted.
    • Otherwise, it was halted after the subject had given the maximum 450-volt shock three times in succession .

  • Protecting Research Subjects

    • There are many guidelines in place to protect human subjects in sociological research.
    • The participants adapted to their roles well beyond expectations, as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture.
    • The participants adapted to their roles well beyond expectations, as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture.
    • Institutional review boards (IRBs) are committees that are appointed to approve, monitor, and review research involving human subjects in order to make sure that the well-being of research participants is never compromised.
    • They are thus intended to assess such factors as conflicts of interest--for instance, a funding source that has a vested interest in the outcome of a research project--and potential emotional distress caused to subjects.

  • Aging is Both Biological and Sociological

    • Aging may also be seen as a subjective series of social processes whereby people interpret, negotiate, and make sense of biological development in relation to existing conceptualizations of what it means to be a certain age.
    • An example of the bio-social and objective/subjective nature of aging may be useful.
    • As a result, this child's biological age (how far from birth one is) may or may not match this child's subjective age (how old he/she feels and what responsibilities develop at what age).
    • Additionally, this child may not align with societal age norms by not doing what society expects the child to do at certain ages.Aging is a complex process of subjective biological and social realities intertwined with relatively objective biological and social standards that shift within and between historical and cultural periods.

  • Objective vs. Critical vs. Subjective

    • Whether or not scientists explicitly invoke their personal opinions in their teaching and research, every decision scientists make will ultimately rely upon - and thus demonstrate to varying degrees - their subjective realities.
    • As a result, current debates typically center around objective (an ideal) versus subjective (data-based) interpretations of science while scholars continue to debate the merits and limitations of subjective/objective versus critical approaches.
    • Some examples of the subjective basis of both "objective" and "critical" sociology may illustrate the point.
    • As a result, researchers themselves have no opportunity to conduct objective studies because doing research requires them to use their personal experiences and opinions (whether these arise from personal life, the advice of the people that taught them research methods, or the books they have read that were ultimately subject to the same subjective processes) throughout the process.
    • Although the recognition of all science as ultimately subjective to varying degrees is fairly well established at this point, the question of whether or not scientists should embrace this subjectivity remains an open one (e.g., to be or not to be political in classrooms and research projects).

  • What Can Sociology Tell Us?

    • Because of the subject of investigation (society), sociology runs into a number of problems that have significant implications for this field of inquiry:
    • it is difficult for sociologists to strive for objectivity and handle the subjective components of scientific practice - especially when the phenomena they study is also part of their social life

  • Studying Sociology

    • Its subject matter ranges from the micro level to the macro level.
    • Sociology is a broad discipline in terms of both methodology and subject matter.
    • Much of what human activity falls under the category of social structure or social activity; because of this, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to such far-flung subjects as the study of economic activity, health disparities, and even the role of social activity in the creation of scientific knowledge.

  • Integration Theory

    • ., patterns of behavior and human interaction), a macro-subjective component (e.g., culture, norms, and values), and a micro-subjective component (e.g., perceptions, beliefs).
    • This model is of particular use in understanding society because it uses two axes: one ranging from objective (society) to subjective (culture and cultural interpretation); the other ranging from the macro-level (norms) to the micro-level (individual level beliefs).

  • The Asch Experiment: The Power of Peer Pressure

    • For the first two trials, the subject would feel at ease in the experiment, as he and the other "participants" gave the obvious, correct answer.
    • Overall, there was a 37% conformity rate by subjects averaged across all critical trials.
    • In a control group, with no pressure to conform to an erroneous answer, only one subject out of 35 ever gave an incorrect answer.
    • For example, anonymous surveys can allow people to fully express how they feel about a particular subject without fear of retribution or retaliation from others in the group or the larger society.
    • Others have suggested that the high conformity rate was due to social norms regarding politeness, which is consistent with subjects' own claims that they did not actually believe the others' judgments and were indeed merely conforming.