BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

BINF705 Research Ethics Fall 2015

Introduction to Ethics

Jeff Solka Ph.D.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Syllabus - I

Instructor - Jeff Solka, 540-809-9799 (Cell), jlsolka@gmail.com

Office Hours - By Appointment

Schedule - Monday 7:20 pm - 8:35 pm Ocaquan Rm. 304B

Texts Francis L. Macrina, Scientific Integrity: Text and Cases in

Responsible Conduct of Research (Paperback), 4th Edition 2014.

Course Structure Each class meeting will consist of a brief lecture followed by class discussions based on reading assignments, professor presented case studies, and student presented case studies.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Syllabus - II Course Description This course will examine the moral dilemmas

that currently face researchers. A particular emphasis will be placed on those issues associated with the use of computers in general and their application in bioinformatics in particular. Some of the topics to be discussed will include the fundamentals of ethics, scientific reporting and ethics, interpersonal relationships within a research setting, ethics and peer review, ethics and whistle blowing, relationships with funding agencies, animal research, human research, fraud, intellectual property, and improper use of computer equipment.

Grading - Grades will be based on a class presentation and class participation.

Breakdown Class Participation (25%), Class Presentation (50%), Takehome Midterm (12.5%), Takehome Final (12.5%)

Attendance will be taken and used to helps ascertain course participation.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Course Schedule Online Schedule

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

An Example Ethical Question - I

What level of physical persuasion is allowed in order to obtain information from enemy combatants?

We are not considering this as a legal question. What does the Geneva Convention say?

We are not considering this as a sociological question. What would most Americans allow.

We are asking what would be the best course of action. This is an ethical question.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

An Example Ethical Question - II

Is it ok to ask a student to write a paper based on your research and allow the student to be the first author solely based on the fact that the student wrote the paper even though the student made no contribution to the research in any manner?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Processing Ethical Questions

Do we attack these questions with our heart?

Do we attack these questions with our mind?

Do we attack these questions based on historical legal practices?

Do we attack these questions based on historical religious practices?

What methods would work the best (i.e. produce the best outcomes)?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Western Based Ethical Reasoning

Teleological Approach Also know as the Consequentialist Approach

Deontological Approach

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Teleological Approach

Focuses on the consequences of an action in order to determine the morality of that action.

pg. 25 of Macrina One determines the morality of an act based on

whether the consequences of that act are considered good or bad.

Best example of a teleological theory is utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) One must sum up the good and bad consequences of any

particular action. Must consider the interest of everyone (not just you

personally).

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Teleological Approach and Catbert

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Teleological Approach and Faked Research

Suppose that you are going to fake the results of a paper

Benefits you (prestige, publication, higher salary) Hurts others (others try to duplicate your faked results,

people might actually die if your faked results have impacts with regards to clinical trials.)

What would a teleological argument say?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Teleological Approach and the Case of the Escaped Mental Patient

A former student of mine has escaped from a mental hospital.

He shows up at GMU waving a scalpel and wants to know my home address?

Do you give him my home address or do you lie?

Isn’t lying wrong as we illustrated on the previous slide?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

What Are We Weighing When We Consider Teleological Arguments?

Happiness

Unhappiness

Mill

PleasurePain

Benthan

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Problems With Utilitarianism

Hard to Employ How Can We Calculate the Consequence of Our Actions

(Even a Simple One) Slippery Slope

Suppose there is a patient with Lymphoma that is producing a substance of tremendous value in the treatment of AIDS.

He refused to allow us to obtain any blood samples from him.

Might not utilitarianism argue that we should kill him and divide his blood supply/tissues among the various research labs?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Deontology Approaches

Does not depend exclusively on the consequences of an action to determine its morality.

Moderate (consequences and other things)

Extreme (consequences can’t come into the equation) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Macrina pg. 27

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Immanuel Kant

Categorical imperative Various equivalent formulations of this idea One formulation

“act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

So we decide upon an act if we wish to take that same law into account in every situation.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Categorical Imperative and Fraudulent Scientific Results

Let’s reconsider the case of our fraudulent scientific results.

Do we want it to become a universal law that it is ok to fake your results?

This would stop the advancement of science.

No one would desire such a law to be universally applied.

Do we want it to be a universal law that you can never fake your results?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Alternative Formulation of Kant’s Treatise

“act in such a way that you always treat humanity whether in your own person or in the person of any other ,never simply as a means but always at the same time as a end.”

Implies a certain respect for people. Does it say that we never use a person as a means to

an end? How about a doctor treating a patient.

The doctor uses the patient as a means to make a living. What is the “end” in this case? What would be an example of treating a patient without

any “end” for the patient in mind.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Critical Thinking and the Case Study Approach

Become familiar with the codes that govern scientific behavior.

How do we apply these codes.

Case studies are designed to help us learn to think critically.

Critical thinking Identifies issues and evidence related to a problem, thereby

allowing defensible conclusions to be made. (Macrina pg. 29)

There may be alternate solutions to a particular problem.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Four Psychological Processes That Are Consistent With Behaving Morally

Bebeau et al., Moral Reasoning in Scientific Research

Moral Sensitivity

Moral Reasoning

Moral Commitment

Moral Perseverance (or Moral Implementation)

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Moral Sensitivity

What actions are possible?

Who would be affected?

How would the actions be regarded by the affected parties?

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Moral Reasoning

What course of action is morally right (or fair, or just, or good)?

These considerations prescribe a set of potential courses of action.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Moral Commitment

A decision is made to do what is morally right

Moral values are awarded priority above and beyond other personal values.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Moral Perseverance (or Moral Implementation)

Implementation of the moral course of action decided upon.

Potential obstacles may need to be overcome in the pursuit of this goal.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Interplay Between the Steps

The four steps can influence one another although they can in some sense be independent.

A person might be good at one of the steps but not the others.

Discussing various cases with one another can help us hone our skills and learn to recognize the various steps in the process.

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

The Problem With Case Studies

It is difficult to simulate the moral perseverance step in our case study discussions.

The true measure in this case is determined by what an individual actually does.

Sometimes presenters can indicate their true intentions at the end of a case study (i.e. their unwillingness to implement the prescribed course of action)

BINF705 RESEARCH ETHICS FALL 2015 SOLKA - INTRODUCTION

Discussion Questions

What are some of the moral values that are unique to the conduct of scientific research?

Should scientists be accountable for their choice of research pursuits if their published results are used for evil purposes by others?

Do you believe that some kinds of scientific research should be forbidden? If you do, provide examples?

Do scientists have a moral obligation to explain the implications of their research to society?