Was Stanley Milgram’s Study of Disobedience Unethical..

The article on Milgram’s study of obedience captures and defends his stance on the assumption that one’s situation at a given time dictates how they will respond to orders from a person in authority.  The study conducted by Milgram consisted of 40 males varying in age from 20 to 50 years, from varied backgrounds and employment.  Many will and have argued that Milgram’s study was unethical due to the use of a fake machine and trained “learner”.  However, I beg to differ based on the forthcoming information that was provided initially.   The participants in Milgram’s study voluntarily agreed to the experiment, for which they were also compensated.  Participants were also informed that they would be paid just for showing up.  Also, the participants were debriefed after the experiment and introduced to the learner in an effort to ensure no psychological damage was done. Oftentimes, research is based on deception, hence “the Placebo Effect”.