Identify an experiment that has been conducted in your field of study; it does not matter how recent it was.

Identify an experiment that has been conducted in your field of study; it does not matter how recent it was. Provide a short summary of the experiment, including what was unethical and what was gained from the research. The field of Criminal Justice has had many extensive experiments on law enforcement and criminal justice. One experiment that was conducted was the shift length experiment. This experiment sought out to see what the effects were on officers who worked different lengths of shifts from eight, ten, or twelve hours. They sought out the health, alertness, behaviors, and stress levels. Many factors concluded that four ten-hour shifts were best on officers and departments. After researching this experiment, I learned that it was only conducted over a two-week time period. Results of shift work over two weeks cannot conclude much data if very little. Especially with the climate around law enforcement today. (Amendola, 2011) Based on the basic ethical principles in the Belmont Report, what would you recommend changing in this study to bring it up in today’s ethical standards? The Belmont Report concluded that three areas need to be adhered to. These include Persons, Beneficence, and Justice. The well being of the officers used in this experiment were well cared for. They received pre-examinations to identify stress, hours of sleep, alertness, and cognitive behaviors. The beneficence part is the area of most concern ethically. This study should have been conducted longer and seen results that happen when officers change shift hours. The amount of time used to conduct this experiment would also apply for the third principle of justice. While conducting this experiment for longer periods could enhance how officers interact with those in the community and potentially lead to proper law enforcement interactions. Would making these changes impact the knowledge gained? Why or why not? I believe that these changes would impact the knowledge gained. In the military we use research on shift changes with our personnel. Working all year long, personnel rotate shifts from days, to swings, and to mid-shift. Every base I have been to concluded that working two months on a shift is adequate for a regular sleep schedule and adapting to working and hours awake on different hours. This study could have learned more if it had lasted longer. There is not information if this was shorter due to funding, which could have been the case. References: Amendola, K. (2011). The Shift Length Experiment. Retrieved from The Shift Length Experiment | National Police Foundation