How much ethical theory?

How much time should a course on Research Ethics devote to ethical principles and methods of decision-making?

I'm midway through my 1.0 credit research ethics course with 28 NC State doctoral students. At the end of our last class, I asked for feedback on the course. One of the better students efficiently summarized a criticism we've struggled with as a LANGURE team.

My suggestion would be to not use so much class time on the theories but on applied material. If you could use theories and apply them to how we can solve ethical problems, then fine. But even then, I’m not as interested in theory beyond broadening my horizons as much as I am interesting in knowing some of the rules and regulations that I will need to have an understanding of when I do my research. I also want to know what events and policies things I may encounter and ways of solving those problems.

For a discussion of the approach LANGURE is currently taking, click here:
http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/langure/howmuchtheory.htm

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A. G. Rud said...

I like the approach of engaging sympathies by using "heels." One way to react to heels is with revulsion and an avowed decision to never do that oneself. But the heels of history, such as the Nazi or Tuskegee doctors, may be too removed from some of the more ordinary, garden-variety lapses in research ethics. How do you make the bridge between extreme historical cases and everyday practice?

9:09 PM

NCSU Ethics said...

Good question, AG. The Nazi experiments did not happen within my lifetime, not to mention the lifetimes of my students. Furthermore, those experiments were so vile and egregious as to seem to belong to a subject different from "research misconduct."
The Tuskegee case is within my lifetime, and students, particularly those from the U.s., seem to connect with it more directly than with the Third Reich example.

You asked, perceptively: How do we make the connection from these cases to the more common and mundane forms of misconduct? The heels play that role well. Heels commonly are guilty of F,F, or P, the most common forms of misconduct these days. By assembling a roster of examples from as many disciplines as possible, and preferably one from every discipline, the student will see that irresponsible and risky behaviors are not an artifact of a long-past era. Nor are they the sole province of people from other disciplines. They are recent, and they are present in my field.

What do you think?
G. Comstock

9:37 PM

gmbodner said...

I used the material you posted on the web as the basis for a two-hour introduction to ethics for our first-year graduate students in chemistry (about 65 students) at the beginning of the semester. The most useful part, in their minds, was the plagiarism exercise. The least useful, in their minds, was the introduction to the research mission of the land-grant university and some of the more theoretical issues of ethics. They also wanted more applications.

11:11 AM

A. G. Rud said...

The roster of examples works for me, let many flowers bloom to give people as many "hooks" on heeldom.

5:16 PM