Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach
Affiliation.
- 1 Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (ISIS), Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands. [email protected]
- PMID: 16909155
- DOI: 10.1007/s11948-006-0051-6
The Schön misconduct case has been widely publicized in the media and has sparked intense discussions within and outside the scientific community about general issues of science ethics. This paper analyses the Report of the official Committee charged with the investigation in order to show that what at first seems to be a quite uncontroversial case, turns out to be an accumulation of many interesting and non-trivial questions (of both ethical and philosophical interest). In particular, the paper intends to show that daily scientific practices are structurally permeated by chronic problems; this has serious consequences for how practicing scientists assess their work in general, and scientific misconduct in particular. A philosophical approach is proposed that sees scientific method and scientific ethics as inextricably interwoven. Furthermore, the paper intends to show that the definition of co-authorship that the members of the Committee use, although perhaps clear in theory, proves highly problematic in practice and raises more questions that it answers. A final plea is made for a more self-reflecting attitude of scientists as far as the moral and methodological profile of science is concerned as a key element for improving not only their scientific achievements, but also their assessment of problematic cases.
- Education, Professional
- Ethics, Research* / education
- Nanotechnology / ethics
- Organizational Case Studies
- Peer Review, Research*
- Scientific Misconduct*
- Terminology as Topic
Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach
- Published: September 2006
- Volume 12 , pages 533–541, ( 2006 )
Cite this article
- Luca Consoli PhD 1
1159 Accesses
18 Citations
Explore all metrics
The Schön misconduct case has been widely publicized in the media and has sparked intense discussions within and outside the scientific community about general issues of science ethics. This paper analyses the Report of the official Committee charged with the investigation in order to show that what at first seems to be a quite uncontroversial case, turns out to be an accumulation of many interesting and non-trivial questions (of both ethical and philosophical interest). In particular, the paper intends to show that daily scientific practices are structurally permeated by chronic problems; this has serious consequences for how practicing scientists assess their work in general, and scientific misconduct in particular. A philosophical approach is proposed that sees scientific method and scientific ethics as inextricably interwoven. Furthermore, the paper intends to show that the definition of co-authorship that the members of the Committee use, although perhaps clear in theory, proves highly problematic in practice and raises more questions that it answers. A final plea is made for a more self-reflecting attitude of scientists as far as the moral and methodological profile of science is concerned as a key element for improving not only their scientific achievements, but also their assessment of problematic cases.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this article
Subscribe and save.
- Get 10 units per month
- Download Article/Chapter or eBook
- 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
- Cancel anytime
Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)
Instant access to the full article PDF.
Rent this article via DeepDyve
Institutional subscriptions
Similar content being viewed by others
The Structure of Scientific Fraud: The Relationship Between Paradigms and Misconduct
Ethical Ambiguity in Science
Of Fakes and Frauds: Can Scientific “Hoaxes” Be a Legitimate Tool of Inquiry?
Explore related subjects.
- Medical Ethics
Literature on this topic is vast. For a case study of how media influence the public perception of science, see Gregory J. (2003) The popularization and excommunication of Fred Hoyle’s ‘life-from-space’ theory. Public Understanding of Science 12 : 25–46. For a sociological study of the impact of technology on society and the public, an interesting perspective is offered by Ellul, J. (1967) The technological society . USA: Random House. See also Boulter D. (1999) Public perception of science and associated general issues for the scientist. Phytochemistry 50 : 1–7; B.L. Cohen, B.L. (1998) Public perception versus results of scientific risk analysis. Reliability Engineering and System. Safety 59 : 101–105.
Article Google Scholar
Lafollette, M. (1992) Stealing into print: fraud, plagiarism, and misconduct in scientific publishing . Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar
Drenth, P.J.D. (1999) Scientists at fault: causes and consequences of misconduct in science, in: European science and scientists between freedom and responsibility . Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Community.
M. Beasley et al. (2002) Report of the investigation committee on the possibility of scientific misconduct in the work of Hendrik Schön and coauthors. Lucent Technologies. Available online at the URL: http://www.lucent.com/news_events/researchreview.html. We will refer for convenience to this document from now on as “Report”.
Service, R.F. (2002) Winning Streak Brought Awe, And Then Doubt. Science 297 : 34–37.
Goss Levi, B. (2002) Bell Labs Convenes Committee to Investigate Questions of Scientific Misconduct. Physics Today .
Brumfield, G. (2002) Misconduct Finding at Bell Labs Shakes Physics Community. Nature 419 : 419–421
Chang, K. (09-26-2002) Panel Says Bell Labs Scientist Faked Discoveries”, New York Times .
Kolata, G. (09-29-2002) Assigning Blame is Fraud is found. New York Times .
Nature 429, 692 (17 June 2004); 429 , 789 (24 June 2004).
Electronic document, available atURL: http://www.ostp.gov/html/001207_3.html.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, URL: http://m-w.com.
Kuhn, T.S. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , University of Chicago Press, USA.
Recommendations of the Commission on Professional Self Regulation in Science , Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Available at URL: http://www.dfg.de.
Download references
Author information
Authors and affiliations.
Science and Society, Department of Philosophy, Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (ISIS), Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Luca Consoli PhD ( Assistant Professor )
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Corresponding author
Correspondence to Luca Consoli PhD .
Rights and permissions
Reprints and permissions
About this article
Consoli, L. Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach. SCI ENG ETHICS 12 , 533–541 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-006-0051-6
Download citation
Received : 15 March 2004
Revised : 19 January 2006
Accepted : 11 May 2006
Issue Date : September 2006
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-006-0051-6
Share this article
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative
- science ethics
- methodology
- Find a journal
- Publish with us
- Track your research
Europe PMC requires Javascript to function effectively.
Either your web browser doesn't support Javascript or it is currently turned off. In the latter case, please turn on Javascript support in your web browser and reload this page.
Search life-sciences literature (44,980,174 articles, preprints and more)
- Full text links
- Citations & impact
- Similar Articles
Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach.
Author information, affiliations.
- Consoli L 1
Science and Engineering Ethics , 01 Jul 2006 , 12(3): 533-541 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-006-0051-6 PMID: 16909155
Abstract
Full text links .
Read article at publisher's site: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-006-0051-6
References
Articles referenced by this article (14)
Literature on this topic is vast. For a case study of how media influence the public perception of science, see Gregory J. (2003) The popularization and excommunication of Fred Hoyle’s ‘life-from-space’ theory. Public Understanding of Science 12: 25–46. For a sociological study of the impact of technology on society and the public, an interesting perspective is offered by Ellul, J. (1967) The technological society. USA: Random House. See also Boulter D. (1999) Public perception of science and associated general issues for the scientist. Phytochemistry 50: 1–7; B.L. Cohen, B.L. (1998) Public perception versus results of scientific risk analysis. Reliability Engineering and System. Safety 59: 101–105.
Lafollette, m. (1992) stealing into print: fraud, plagiarism, and misconduct in scientific publishing. berkeley: university of california press., drenth, p.j.d. (1999) scientists at fault: causes and consequences of misconduct in science, in: european science and scientists between freedom and responsibility. luxembourg: office for official publications of the european community., m. beasley et al. (2002) report of the investigation committee on the possibility of scientific misconduct in the work of hendrik schön and coauthors. lucent technologies. available online at the url: http://www.lucent.com/news_events/researchreview.html. we will refer for convenience to this document from now on as “report”., bell labs. winning streak brought awe, and then doubt..
Science, (5578):34-37 2002
MED: 12098682
Goss Levi, B. (2002) Bell Labs Convenes Committee to Investigate Questions of Scientific Misconduct. Physics Today.
Keeping up appearances..
Nature, (6906):419 2002
MED: 12368819
Chang, K. (09-26-2002) Panel Says Bell Labs Scientist Faked Discoveries”, New York Times.
Kolata, g. (09-29-2002) assigning blame is fraud is found. new york times., not quite shipshape..
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Nature, (6994):789 2004
MED: 15215820
Citations & impact
Impact metrics, citations of article over time, article citations, expectations of katowice residents regarding the program assumptions of the european city of science katowice 2024 in the field of medical and health sciences - questionnaire survey results..
Piotr R , Krzysztof K , Ewa N , Katarzyna B , Klaudia A , Tomasz H
BMC Public Health , 24(1):2180, 12 Aug 2024
Cited by: 0 articles | PMID: 39135169 | PMCID: PMC11318179
Expanding Research Integrity: A Cultural-Practice Perspective.
Valkenburg G , Dix G , Tijdink J , de Rijcke S
Sci Eng Ethics , 27(1):10, 09 Feb 2021
Cited by: 11 articles | PMID: 33559767 | PMCID: PMC7872949
Making researchers responsible: attributions of responsibility and ambiguous notions of culture in research codes of conduct.
BMC Med Ethics , 21(1):56, 07 Jul 2020
Cited by: 3 articles | PMID: 32635905 | PMCID: PMC7339540
Addressing research integrity challenges: from penalising individual perpetrators to fostering research ecosystem quality care.
Zwart H , Ter Meulen R
Life Sci Soc Policy , 15(1):5, 10 Jun 2019
Cited by: 9 articles | PMID: 31179512 | PMCID: PMC6556950
When Public Discourse Mirrors Academic Debate: Research Integrity in the Media.
Ampollini I , Bucchi M
Sci Eng Ethics , 26(1):451-474, 03 Apr 2019
Cited by: 2 articles | PMID: 30945163
Similar Articles
To arrive at the top five similar articles we use a word-weighted algorithm to compare words from the Title and Abstract of each citation.
Science ethics education part II: changes in attitude toward scientific fraud among medical researchers after a short course in science ethics.
Vuckovic-Dekic L , Gavrilovic D , Kezic I , Bogdanovic G , Brkic S
J BUON , 17(2):391-395, 01 Apr 2012
Cited by: 4 articles | PMID: 22740224
Overview: underserved areas of education in the responsible conduct of research: authorship.
Kalichman MW
Sci Eng Ethics , 17(2):335-339, 26 May 2011
Cited by: 7 articles | PMID: 21611821 | PMCID: PMC3428198
Free full text in Europe PMC
Can authorship policies help prevent scientific misconduct? What role for scientific societies?
Sci Eng Ethics , 9(2):243-256, 01 Apr 2003
Cited by: 13 articles | PMID: 12774656
Ethical publishing: the innocent author's guide to avoiding misconduct.
Menopause Int , 13(3):98-102, 01 Sep 2007
Cited by: 2 articles | PMID: 17933094
Partnerships & funding
Europe PMC is developed by EMBL-EBI with support from the Europe PMC Funders' Group , in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) , as part of the PubMed Central International archive network.
Europe PMC is an ELIXIR Core Data Resource , Global Core Biodata Resource , and conforms with EMBL-EBI’s long term data preservation policies .
An official website of the United States government
Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
- Publications
- Account settings
- Advanced Search
- Journal List
Cautionary Tales: Ethics and Case Studies in Science
Clyde freeman herreid.
- Author information
- Article notes
- Copyright and License information
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260. Phone: 716-645-4900. Fax: 716-645-2975. E-mail: [email protected] .
Collection date 2014 Dec.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode ), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
Ethical concerns are normally avoided in science classrooms in spite of the fact that many of our discoveries impinge directly on personal and societal values. We should not leave the ethical problems for another day, but deal with them using realistic case studies that challenge students at their ethical core. In this article we illustrate how case studies can be used to teach STEM students principles of ethics.
INTRODUCTION
Americans consider morality the most essential part of self ( 11 ).
This may be true of other cultures as well. All societies have elaborate rules of conduct that are often codified into law. Some of these imperatives seem hardwired. Human infants younger than a year and a half will look longer at visual displays showing violations of social rules ( 2 ). It is part of our primate heritage; individuals are punished if they stray far from acceptable behavior. Capuchin monkeys will reject a reward if they think they are being treated unfairly; they have a clear sense of right and wrong which depends on the social situation ( 3 ). Aesop would agree—he penned many a story where animals behaved badly and paid the penalty.
If morality and ethics are so central to our beings, what are our responsibilities as STEM educators to pass along the standards of society? And if we accept this challenge, what is the best way to instruct our youthful comrades in their quest for knowledge? I argue in this article that we should accept this obligation and that case study teaching is an ideal way to deliver the message.
Case-study teaching has a long and honorable lineage ( 4 ). In academic circles we find it used 100 years ago in Harvard Law School. The instructor would bring in a true criminal or civil case that had been adjudicated and conduct a class discussion with future lawyers, asking them to justify the rationale for the final decision—challenging them every step of the way. This provided students a real-world problem as part of their training for a real world ahead. The method was soon adopted by the Harvard Business School and various schools across the country, where it is now the standard. Medical schools have their own version of the method called Problem-Based Learning. Again the idea was to use real world problems to train physicians, but in this case students work in small groups to analyze patient problems and provide diagnoses. The idea of using similar strategies to teach basic sciences to undergraduates is largely due to the efforts of faculty at the University of Delaware and the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, where there are hundreds of cases now published http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/ .
Research has shown that minorities and women undergraduates respond well to cases ( 5 , 8 ). Among this group, cases have been shown to increase students’ understanding of science by encouraging them to make connections between science concepts and situations they may encounter in their lives ( 7 ). In addition, the case method promotes the internalization of learning and the development of analytical and decision-making skills, as well as proficiency in oral communication and teamwork ( 6 ). The method, moreover, is a flexible teaching tool. Cases can take many different forms and be taught in many different ways, ranging from the classical discussion method used in business and law schools, to the arguably strongest approaches, Problem-Based Learning and the Interrupted Case Method, with their emphasis on small-group, cooperative learning strategies ( 4 ).
The method seems ideal for teaching ethics to STEM students. We have plenty of precedents to guide us. We have legal ethics, business ethics, medical ethics, bioethics, geoethics, environmental ethics, teaching ethics, research ethics, engineering ethics, and so on. And, of course, there are religious ethics, with each faith describing canons of behavior not to be breached. Some of them are commonly held community values, such as “thou shalt not steal, lie, or cheat.” Others are more specific, such as the research tenet, “thou should replicate experiments.” While some of these “rules” are so entrenched that they are tantamount to absolutes, others are more fragile and malleable; they are subject to the changing moral landscape. Policies about smoking in public places have rapidly shifted ( 12 ). Decrees against interracial marriage, once laws of the land, are now anachronisms, as are statues against same-sex marriage ( 1 , 10 ). Such shifts in the moral topography offer wonderful opportunities for case studies as they challenge students at their central core of beliefs. There are hundreds of these case studies now available for teachers in repositories such as the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu ), where you can find moral dilemmas depicted in cases on evolution, genetic engineering, nutrition, euthanasia, cloning, and organic farming.
Case studies can be used to show students acceptable standards of behavior within a given profession—the do’s and don’ts—and the disastrous consequences that can occur if the rules are not obeyed. We learn of breaches of research ethics such as fraud, plagiarism, and sloppy book-keeping that ruin careers. We come to know cautionary tales, like Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who misrepresented the medical histories of 12 patients and claimed that his research results showed that vaccinations caused autism. He was eventually discredited and Britain stripped him of his medical license. Unfortunately, this sensational allegation has resulted in thousands of people refusing to have their children vaccinated, with a subsequent striking rise in measles.
In the past, these stories were neglected in the STEM classroom. Questions of right or wrong belonged elsewhere—in the home, in a philosophy class, in a church or tabernacle. In the science classroom we learned how to make petroleum, shoot rockets, synthesize drugs, manipulate DNA, and clone animals, not whether we should do so. Then came the Second World War. The academic community ran squarely into two striking examples of the deep entanglement of science and ethics. Suddenly, there was a public debate about whether Truman’s decision to drop the atom bomb on Japan with the loss of millions of lives was ethical. The sensational trials of generals and scientists implicated in the atrocities at the Nazi concentration camps came to light during the Nuremberg Trials and patient bills of rights were drafted. Today our IRB committees and other ethical bodies monitor our experimental protocols involving research into issues of genetic engineering, stem cell research, three-parent embryos, etc. So my argument is that we should not ignore these disputes in the science classroom; this is where the technology is coming from—the STEM laboratories and the people in charge.
This is especially true as scientists have gained technological expertise; we see more clearly than ever how science and technological decisions can wreak havoc in our lives. Think about science in the courtroom, the public policy decisions on health and insurance, the intrusion of listening devices and the tracking of our e-mails and phone calls, the science of warfare and the use of chemical weapons and drones, the use of chemical fertilizers and organic farming, and possible designer babies. Very little that we humans do is not filled with moral or ethical conundrums. No more should we eschew these quandaries in our classrooms. When we discuss DNA genomes, we should not only speak of how the technology can be used to track potential criminals, but also how it can lead to social and personal dilemmas when we identify parentage, plot evolutionary lineages, discover genetically modified food, and detect mutations that might lead to lethal disease and the loss of insurance. How better to deal with such contentious matters than to use case studies? Case studies are stories with an educational message, and as such they are perfect vehicles to integrate science with societal and policy issues. They are ideal because of their interdisciplinary nature. They deal with real issues that students will face in the future. And people love stories.
RESOURCES FOR ETHICS CASES
There are several STEM case repositories in the world; arguably the largest is the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, with over 500 case studies published over the past 25 years. Its greatest strength is in the fields of biology and health-related professions. Over 100 cases are catalogued as having ethical issues, ranging in suitability from middle school student classes to faculty seminars.
We seldom find pure instances of ethical transgressions, where issues of fraud, fabrication, or plagiarism are discussed. Rather, ethical issues are more apt to be a sidebar to the main thrust of a case concentrated on a health or environmental problem. And even in these cases, an individual may not be wrestling with problems involving societal standards. Instead, they grapple with whether it is prudent to make one decision versus another. It may be as simple as whether or not to have an operation or whether it is healthy to use drugs to lose weight.
Let me give you a flavor of the kinds of issues and cases that are available:
Personal dilemma
Often such cases involve medical issues, as we see in “A Right to Her Genes” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=316&id=316 ). In this true story, students examine the case of a woman, Michelle, with a family predisposition to cancer, who is considering genetic testing. The woman wishes to get some information to confirm this predisposition from a reluctant aunt so that she can better decide whether to remove her breasts and/or ovaries prophylactically. The aunt is illiterate and poor and had previously been estranged from the rest of the family. A genetic counselor is involved to help educate the aunt and hopefully obtain consent to get a DNA sample from her. Michelle must decide for herself what course of action she should take.
In “Spirituality and Health Care: A Request for Prayer” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=434&id=434 ), a fourth-year medical student making hospital rounds with an attending physician is asked by a family member of a patient to pray with her. The case allows medical students to explore issues related to patients’ religious beliefs as they think through how they might respond to different expectations and requests they may receive from patients and their families in their professional career.
Social ethics
These are cases where protagonists must decide how they will respond to evolving social standards. “SNPs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, and That’s What People Are Made Of” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=337&id=337 ) deals with questions of genome privacy. Students work together to research six lobbying groups’ views in this area and then present their insights before a mock meeting of a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee voting on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. In working through the case, students learn about single nucleotide polymorphisms, common molecular biology techniques, and current legislation governing genome privacy.
“A Case of Cheating?” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=399&id=399 ) involves two international students who are accused of cheating at the end of the semester, and the teacher must decide how to handle the accusation so that all students see that justice is done. The case raises cultural questions in the context of the use of peer evaluation and cooperative learning strategies.
Medical ethics
Patient rights are a common concern in medical cases, whether they are the central issue of the case or a sidebar to teaching students about a particular disease syndrome. It is the central theme of the infamous “Bad Blood” case involving black men in Tuskegee, Alabama, in the 1920s ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=371&id=371 ). They had contracted syphilis, and public health officials studying the progress of the debilitating disease originally did not have an effective treatment. Twenty years later, the antibiotic penicillin was discovered, yet treatment was withheld to maintain the integrity of the study, whose purpose was to follow the progression of the disease. The study was immediately stopped when this transgression was made public.
Often there are competing concerns, as when a person is confronted with a decision where their personal morality may be at odds with the decrees of a society or institution. “The Plan: Ethics and Physician Assisted Suicide” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=436&id=436 ) is based on an article published in 1991 in the New England Journal of Medicine in which Dr. Timothy E. Quill described his care for a patient suffering from acute leukemia, including how he prescribed a lethal dose of barbiturates knowing that the woman intended to commit suicide. As a consequence of the article’s publication, a grand jury was convened to consider a charge of manslaughter against Dr. Quill. Students read the case and then, as part of a classroom-simulated trial, discuss physician-assisted suicide in terms of fundamental medical ethics principles.
Research ethics
Courses in experimental design are frequently part of psychology curricula. They seldom are part of the typical undergraduate programs in other STEM fields, although there is an excellent resource in the text Research Ethics ( 9 ). Apparently, students in STEM disciplines are supposed to absorb the proper canons of behavior by observation and osmosis.
“A Rush to Judgment” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=250&id=250 ) deals with a typical psychological experiment, where a faculty professor is inattentive to his student assistants, one of whom is misrepresenting the results of an experiment. Another student is confronted with a moral dilemma of whether to report this infraction at a potential cost to herself. Involved in the case is a consideration of proper research protocol when dealing with human participants: informed consent, freedom from harm, freedom from coercion, anonymity, and confidentiality. Students are referred to the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
“How a Cancer Trial Ended in Betrayal” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=233&id=233 ) begins with a quote from a news item.
Birmingham, Alabama —After Bob Lange spent 8 weeks rubbing an experimental cream, BCX-34, from a prominent biotech company BioCryst on the fiery patches on his body, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham told him the drug was defeating the killer inside him. He felt grateful. “I believed it,” he recalls. “I actually thought I might be cured.” But it was a lie. The drug had no effect on Lange’s rare and potentially fatal skin cancer. And the two key people testing the drug knew it. Lange and 21 other patients were victims of fraud—a scheme made possible by the close tie between the university and the state’s most prominent biotech company. — The Baltimore Sun , June 24, 2001
The authors of this fascinating case state that the learning objectives are to learn the basics of scientific research in a clinical trial; to learn the principles of the scientific method; and to consider the ethical issues involved in clinical trials. Ethical potholes litter the road when universities travel with businesses, and millions of dollars and fame are at stake.
Socio-environmental ethics
Conflicting concerns are the norm when dealing with the environmental problems that beset our world. They not only involve scientific principles, but invariably policy and hurly burly politics as well.
“One Glass for Two People: A Case of Water Use Rights in the Eastern United States” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=603&id=603 ) focuses on the growing issue of water use. Approximately 1.3 million people in North and South Carolina depend on the Catawba-Wateree River for water and electricity. The river is also important for recreation and real estate development. To meet growing water demands, elected officials in Concord and Kannapolis, NC, petitioned their state government to approve an inter-basin transfer of 25 million gallons of water a day from the Catawba River. Other towns in North Carolina and South Carolina that are part of the Catawba-Wateree watershed fought this request for water transfer. For this exercise, students are divided into teams that take the role of different stakeholders trying to negotiate a settlement to this lawsuit. In the course of the debate, students address fundamental legal, ethical, and environmental questions about water use.
“Ecotourism: Who Benefits?” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=359&id=359 ) critically examines the costs and the benefits of visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas. Although ecotourism has among its goals to provide funds for ecological conservation as well as economic benefit and empowerment to local communities, it can result in the exploitation of the natural resources (and communities) it seeks to protect. Students assess ecotourism in Costa Rica by considering the viewpoints of a displaced landowner, banana plantation worker, environmentalist, state official, U.S. trade representative, and national park employee.
Legal ethics
“The Slippery Slope of Litigating Geologic Hazards” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=385&id=385 ) is based on a lawsuit brought against the County of Los Angeles by homeowners suing over damage to their homes in the wake of the Portuguese Bend Landslide. It teaches students principles of landslide movement while illustrating the difficulties involved with litigation resulting from natural hazards. Students first read a newspaper article based on the actual events and then receive details about the geologic setting and landslide characteristics. They are then asked to evaluate the possible causes of the disaster and the responsibilities involved.
“The Sad But True Case of Earl Washington: DNA Analysis and the Criminal Justice System” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=725&id=725 ) recounts how, in 1983, Earl Washington “confessed” to a violent crime that he did not commit and was sentenced to death row. After spending 17 years in prison for something he did not do, Earl was released in 2001 after his innocence was proven through the use of modern DNA technology. The case guides students through the wrongful incarceration of Earl and explores the biological mechanisms behind DNA profiling and the ethical issues involved.
“Complexity in Conservation: The Legal and Ethical Case of a Bird-Eating Cat and its Human Killer” ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=664&id=664 ) presents the true story of a Texas man who killed a cat that was killing piping plovers, a type of endangered bird species, and was prosecuted for it. In Texas, it is a crime to kill an animal that “belongs to another,” and there was evidence that another person was feeding the cat, which otherwise appeared to be feral. Students engage in a role-playing activity as jurors; they discuss the case and collectively decide whether the cat killer should be acquitted or convicted. This role-playing coupled with follow-up discussions helps students examine and articulate their own views on a controversial environmental issue and gain a better understanding about the complex interdisciplinary nature of conservation science and practice.
There are plenty of ethical issues in every science classroom to discuss; they are not in short supply. They are hovering around every scientific study that reaches the public eye. Pick any news item with science as its theme and there will be the central question that is often not spoken: should we be doing this research at all, not only because of its economic cost, but because of the social, environmental, or health costs? Surely this should be always a pivotal question in the minds of all citizens. It is sometimes asserted that scientific discovery cannot or should not be stopped—that all knowledge is good. But even if we accept that premise, it seems worthwhile to consider the consequences of our actions. Where else to start than in our classrooms?
Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Nos. DUE-0341279, DUE-0618570, DUE-0920264, and DUE-1323355. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.
- 1. Committee on Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Acute Coronary Events, Institute of Medicine . Institute of medicine, secondhand smoke exposure and cardiovascular events: making sense of the evidence. The National Academies Press; Washington, DC: 2010. The background of smoking bans; pp. 109–124. [ Google Scholar ]
- 2. Cummins D. Dominance, status, and social hierarchies. In: Bluss D, editor. The handbook of evolutionary psychology. Wiley; Hoboken, NY: 2005. pp. 676–697. [ Google Scholar ]
- 3. De Waal F. Monkey Fairness. In: Macedo S, Ober J, editors. Primates and philosophers: how morality evolved. Princeton Univ. Press; Princeton, NJ: 2006. pp. 44–49. [ Google Scholar ]
- 4. Herreid C. Case Studies in Science: A novel method of science education. In: Herreid C, editor. Start with a story: the case study method of teaching college science. NSTA Press; Arlington, VA: 2007. pp. 29–44. [ Google Scholar ]
- 5. Lundeberg MA, et al. Context matters: Increasing understanding with interactive clicker case studies. Educ. Tech. Res. & Dev. 2011;59:645–671. doi: 10.1007/s11423-010-9182-1. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
- 6. Lundeberg M, Levin B, Harrington H, editors. Who learns what from cases and how? The research base for teaching and learning with cases. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc; Mahwah, NJ: 1999. [ Google Scholar ]
- 7. Lundeberg M, Moch S. The influence of social interaction on cognition: connected learning in science. J Higher Educ. 1995;66:310–335. doi: 10.2307/2943894. [ DOI ] [ Google Scholar ]
- 8. Lundeberg MA, Mogen K, Bergland M, Klyczek K, Johnson D, MacDonald E. Fostering ethical awareness about human genetics through multimedia-based cases. J Coll Sci Teach. 2002;32:64–69. [ Google Scholar ]
- 9. Penslar R, editor. Research ethics: cases & materials. Indiana University Press; Bloomington, IN: 1995. [ Google Scholar ]
- 10. Pierceson J. Same sex marriage in the United States: the road to the Supreme Court and beyond. Rowman & Littlefield; Lanham, MD: 2014. [ Google Scholar ]
- 11. Strohminger N, Nichols S. The essential moral self. Cognition. 2014;131:159–171. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2013.12.005. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
- 12. Wang W. The rise of interracial marriages: rates, characteristics vary by races and gender. Pew Research Social and Demographic Trends. 2012 2012 Feb. [ Google Scholar ]
- View on publisher site
- PDF (181.3 KB)
- Collections
Similar articles
Cited by other articles, links to ncbi databases.
- Download .nbib .nbib
- Format: AMA APA MLA NLM
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
The Schön misconduct case has been widely publicized in the media and has sparked intense discussions within and outside the scientific community about general issues of science ethics. This paper analyses the Report of the official Committee charged with the investigation in order to show that what …
In particular, the paper intends to show that daily scientific practices are structurally permeated by chronic problems; this has serious consequences for how practicing scientists assess their work in general, and scientific misconduct in particular.
ABSTRACT: The Schön misconduct case has been widely publicized in the media and has sparked intense discussions within and outside the scientific community about general issues of science ethics.
I argue that the relationship between method and ethics deserves to be addressed more explicitly and can form the basis of a new approach towards ethical issues in science and engineering.
The expository analysis provides a survey of ethical issues in team settings to inform science ethics education and science policy and shows labor force trends in the US revealing a skewed growth in academic ranks and increased levels of competition within the system.
Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach. ... API case studies; ... Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach
The following five detailed case histories of specific cases of actual and alleged research misconduct are included in an appendix to raise key issues and impart lessons that underlie the committee's findings and recommendations without breaking up the flow of the report.
The authors of this fascinating case state that the learning objectives are to learn the basics of scientific research in a clinical trial; to learn the principles of the scientific method; and to consider the ethical issues involved in clinical trials.
Scientific misconduct and science ethics: a case study based approach. Fulltext: 35421.pdf. Size: 145.3Kb. Format: PDF. Description: Publisher’s version. Download. Publication year. 2006. Author (s) Consoli, L. Source. Science and Engineering Ethics, 12, 3, (2006), pp. 533-541. ISSN. 1353-3452. DOI. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-006-0051-6.
2 case studies for ethics in academic research Research misconduct, as the definition suggests, can occur through ignorance of correct procedures, negligence, or carelessness, or because of deliberate actions.