7.14 Is consent needed? In which of the following circumstances would you allow collecting personal information without the subjects' consent? Why?

1. (a) A government agency takes a random sample of income tax returns to obtain information on the marital status and average income of people who identify themselves as belonging to an ultraconservative political group. Only the marital status and income are recorded from the returns, not the names.
2. (b) A social psychologist attends public meetings of an ultraconservative political group to study the behavior patterns of members.
3. (c) A social psychologist pretends to be converted to membership in an ultraconservative political group and attends private meetings to study the behavior patterns of members.