CS235 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice, Data Mining
Chapter 3: Ethics and Research
Brief History
● Scholars in ancient greece and rome were concerned about how values translate into
social action
● Rhetorical critics have expanded concept of moral character (ethos) to include right of
access to communication in society and participation of a multiplicity of voices
● Common good cannot be achieved by giving people tech or physical access to info,
ethical comm includes range of socially and culturally constructed ways of speaking,
writing, and performing communication
● Philosophers envisioned ideal scientist as detached from human values and norms
● Utilitarian ethics: researchers to exercise individual freedoms as long as no harm was
done to another person
● World wars led to understanding that code of ethics was needed
● 3 principles for ethical research: beneficence, respect for autonomy of persons, and
justice
● Institutional review boards: working group responsible for establishing and implementing
formal research codes of conduct
● Code of conduct: translates ethical values into social action
● Expedited review: research protocol can be approved by IRB chair or subgroup of full
IRB
● Research protocol: describes who you will invite to participate in your study and how you
will recruit participants, etc
● Distributive justice: deems costs and benefits of a decision be distributed fairly
● Procedural justice: everyone gets to participate equally in the process
● Corrective justice: those who have benefitted least in the past or have been harmed
most by past practices should be benefitted most in present decisions
Ethical Choices in Communication Research
● What qs peak your curiosity
● Some research qs can be answered with data and some by gathering evidence in
support of a claim
● Pragmatic issues like time and money, politics
● Informed consent
● Status differentials: relevant when one party to an agreement has more power resources
than the others - open way for power abuses
● Privacy, anonymity, confidentiality
● Treat with honesty, debriefing
● Data mining: aggregating individuals personal info from internet commerce transactions
for marketing purposes
● Plagiarism
Summarizing chart page 47
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Document Summary
Scholars in ancient greece and rome were concerned about how values translate into social action. Rhetorical critics have expanded concept of moral character (ethos) to include right of access to communication in society and participation of a multiplicity of voices. Common good cannot be achieved by giving people tech or physical access to info, ethical comm includes range of socially and culturally constructed ways of speaking, writing, and performing communication. Philosophers envisioned ideal scientist as detached from human values and norms. Utilitarian ethics: researchers to exercise individual freedoms as long as no harm was done to another person. World wars led to understanding that code of ethics was needed. 3 principles for ethical research: beneficence, respect for autonomy of persons, and justice. Institutional review boards: working group responsible for establishing and implementing formal research codes of conduct. Code of conduct: translates ethical values into social action. Expedited review: research protocol can be approved by irb chair or subgroup of full.
