Set Of Ethical Considerations Research Articles

AI Ethics and Bias: Exploratory study on the ethical considerations and potential biases in ai and data-driven decision-making in banking, with a focus on fairness, transparency, and accountability

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-driven decision-making in the banking industry has ushered in unprecedented opportunities for efficiency, risk assessment, and customer service. However, this rapid adoption of AI technology comes with its own set of ethical considerations and potential biases. This research paper delves into the intricate landscape of AI ethics and bias within the banking sector, with a central emphasis on fairness, transparency, and accountability. In sum, this paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on AI ethics and bias by providing valuable insights into the ethical considerations and potential biases inherent in AI and data-driven decision-making within the banking sector. It underscores the necessity of fairness, transparency, and accountability as guiding principles in the responsible integration of AI technology in banking, while also presenting future research directions for this evolving field.

Caught in a school choice quandary: What should an equity-minded parent do?

In this article, I examine a case involving an equity-minded parent caught in a quandary about which school to select for her child, knowing that her decision may have consequences for others. To do so, I heuristically construct a fictional portrait and explore the deliberative process a parent might have through a dialogue taking place among ‘friends’, where each friend personifies a different set of ethical considerations. I then briefly consider two competing philosophical assessments but argue that neither position helpfully assists in resolving the quandary. To conclude, I ask the provocative question whether parental motives – but also their school choices – actually matter if the inequitable outcomes seem to remain unchanged.

Ethical Implications in Making Use of Human Cerebral Organoids for Investigating Stress-Related Mechanisms and Disorders.

The generation of three-dimensional cerebral organoids from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) has facilitated the investigation of mechanisms underlying several neuropsychiatric disorders, including stress-related disorders, namely major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Generating hPSC-derived neurons, cerebral organoids, and even assembloids (or multi-organoid complexes) can facilitate research into biomarkers for stress susceptibility or resilience and may even bring about advances in personalized medicine and biomarker research for stress-related psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, cerebral organoid research does not come without its own set of ethical considerations. With increased complexity and resemblance to in vivo conditions, discussions of increased moral status for these models are ongoing, including questions about sentience, consciousness, moral status, donor protection, and chimeras. There are, however, unique ethical considerations that arise and are worth looking into in the context of research into stress and stress-related disorders using cerebral organoids. This paper provides stress research-specific ethical considerations in the context of cerebral organoid generation and use for research purposes. The use of stress research as a case study here can help inform other practices of in vitro studies using brain models with high ethical considerations.

Digital content reuse assessment

This paper reports on a US-funded research project that examines the development of an assessment framework for digital content reuse by cultural heritage organizations. Specifically, it provides a conceptual framework for a nuanced understanding of digital object/content use and reuse and introduces a set of ethical considerations and guidelines for the assessment of digital object/content reuse in digital, archives, and repositories.

Interpreting Irremediability When a Mental Health Disorder is the Sole-qualifying Medical Condition for MAiD

In this critical commentary, a set of ethical considerations of relevance to the (currently contested) interpretation of irremediability for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in circumstances where the sole-underlying medical condition is a mental health disorder is explored and analyzed. Based on the application of an ethics lens, a practical description of irremediability is proposed for intended use as guidance by Canadian mental health care clinicians, MAiD assessors and providers, and provincial/territorial professional regulatory authorities.

Developing an ethical rationale for collaborative approaches to evaluation

As a deeply relational, dialogic, engaged and political approach, the collaborative research context is fairly unique in the world of research, and as such opens up an entirely new set of ethical considerations that serve to differentiate it from other approaches, repositioning ethics as a fundamental rationale for collaborative inquiry. In this paper, we revisit the justifications for collaborative approaches to evaluation—the three Ps—which have become integral to our discourse about the genre. We then elaborate on our rationale for exploring ethics as a legitimate interest in collaborative approaches to evaluation, with special consideration given to why ethics should become an essential consideration moving forward, specifically in terms of the moral obligations of collaborative approaches to evaluation practitioners. We then re-envision the inclusion of an “ethic of engagement” along seven interconnected dimensions, what we refer to as the Seven Rs of collaborative practice: reflexivity, relationality, responsibility, recognition, representation, reciprocity, and rights.

So you’re literally taking the piss?! Critically analysing and accounting for ethics (and risk) in interdisciplinary research on children and plastics

ABSTRACT Whilst interdisciplinarity has been an integral part of childhood studies, it is less common for social scientists and natural scientists to collaborate in this space – and especially with scholars like environmental (nano)scientists. This paper draws on vignettes from a project about children and plastics, which combined a range of qualitative, artistic and biosampling methods. Focusing on these methodological intersections, the paper critically reflects on a range of ethical issues, including institutional ethical approval, health and risk assessments, informed consent, and data analysis. Its principal contribution is to outline significant ethical issues rarely (if ever) considered by childhood studies scholars, anticipating that doing so might support others (including those beyond childhood studies) wishing to engage in similar kinds of interdisciplinary research, especially in response to complex, pressing, socio-environmental challenges facing children. The paper’s second contribution is to offer a more systematic set of ethical considerations for burgeoning new-materialist, posthuman and post-qualitative approaches to childhood studies.

The Ethicality of Point-of-Sale Marketing Campaigns: Normative Ethics Applied to Cause-Related Checkout Charities

“Would you like to contribute to XYZ charity by adding a dollar to your bill today?” Point-of-sale campaigns for fundraising are common to grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and warehouse clubs. Commonly referred to as ‘checkout charity,’ these fundraisers have generated over $4.1 billion in contributions for nonprofits over the past three decades. Yet little research has focused on the ethicality of this type of campaign. To address this need, we analyze the issue using behavioral ethics (moral identity and emotional triggers of behavior) and normative theory (consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics). We consider three stakeholder perspectives, including the nonprofit initiating the campaign, the business hosting the campaign, and the donor. Often ethical theories are seen as competing for primacy rather than being complementary perspectives in choosing the best action. We demonstrate that ethical discernment results in a richer analysis when consulting multiple frameworks. The purpose of this paper is to provide a set of ethical considerations for individuals to draw upon when devising and donating to checkout charity campaigns. This analysis will serve as a conceptual resource for scholars, practitioners, and students of nonprofit and for-profit management.

Triage in the Perspective of Catholic Bioethics

The appearance of COVID-19 has brought renewed attention to the practice of triage. This is an important means of best utilizing limited available resources during periods of medical crisis, whatever its source. The ethicists of The National Catholic Bioethics Center offer a set of ethical considerations for triage and rationing founded on long-standing principles of Catholic moral teaching. These include the dignity of human life, the objective criterion of justice, the duty to care, and the needs of human stewardship. The authors also offer observations on the process of implementing triage protocols, which must be consistent, accountable, and transparent and undergo regular review. The human dimension of illness and suffering requires prayer and patient support, sound prudential judgment, and the regular exercise of the virtue of charity.

Inclusion of Marginalized Groups and Communities in Global Health Research Priority-Setting.

Community engagement is gaining prominence in global health research. But community members, especially those from groups and communities that are considered disadvantaged and marginalized, rarely have a say in the agendas and priorities of the research projects that aim to help them. This article explores how to achieve their inclusion in priority-setting for global health research projects. A total of 29 in-depth interviews and one focus group were undertaken with researchers, research ethicists, community engagement practitioners, and community-based organization staff. Thematic analysis identified two core dimensions of inclusion-representation and voice-and what is necessary to realize them with marginalized groups and communities in global health research priority-setting. A set of ethical considerations is proposed to assist researchers and their partners design more inclusive priority-setting processes.

Patent Ethics: The Misalignment of Views Between the Patent System and the Wider Society.

Concerns have been voiced about the ethical implications of patenting practices in the field of biotechnology. Some of these have also been incorporated into regulation, such as the European Commission Directive 98/44 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions. However, the incorporation of ethically based restrictions into patent legislation has not had the effect of satisfying all concerns. In this article, we will systematically compare the richness of ethical concerns surrounding biotech patenting, with the limited scope of ethical concerns actually addressed in the patent system. As sources of our analyses we will use literature and document studies and a survey with important stakeholders and experts related to Norwegian patenting in the aquacultural biotechnology sector. We will structure the analyses with an ethical matrix, developed for this purpose. Showing the misalignment of the discussions within and outside the patent system, we suggest that an important reason for the ethical controversy still surrounding patenting is that ethical questions keep being framed in a narrow way within the system. Until a richer set of ethical considerations is addressed head-on within the patent system, the patent system will continue to evoke academic and interest group criticism, potentially contributing to a legitimacy crisis of the whole system.

The Chennai floods of 2015: urgent need for ethical disaster management guidelines

India has suffered several natural disasters in recent years. The super cyclone of Orissa in 1999 and the tsunami on the southeastern coast in 2004, both led to major developments in disaster management abilities in the country. Almost a decade after the last major disaster that hit south India, the recent floods in Chennai in 2015 brought to the fore a whole set of ethical considerations. There were issues of inequity in the relief and response activities, conflicts and lack of coordination between the government and non-government relief and response, more emphasis on short-term relief activities rather than rehabilitation and reconstruction, and lack of crisis standards of care in medical services. This paper highlights these ethical issues and the need for ethical guidelines and an ethical oversight mechanism for disaster management and response.

Putting the community back in community ecology and education: the role of field schools and private reserves in the ethical training of primatologists

In 1993 and 1999, with the assistance of a Nicaraguan family, we founded La Suerte Biological Research Station in northeastern Costa Rica and Ometepe Biological Research Station in southern Nicaragua as a privately owned conservation-oriented business. Our goal was to develop a program of sustainable community ecology focused on education, research, and the conservation of primates and tropical forests. In order to accomplish this we developed field courses in which undergraduate and graduate students conduct scientific research, experience local cultures, and learn about conservation. Over 120 of these students have received doctoral degrees or are currently in graduate programs. Four doctoral dissertations, several MA theses, and some 20 scientific articles have been published based on research conducted at our field stations. In order to achieve our long-term goals of preserving the environment, we also needed to engage directly with local communities to address their needs and concerns. To this end, we developed a series of community-based initiatives related to health care, bilingual education, and conservation education using traditional and on-line teaching tools. In this article, we describe our efforts in Costa Rica and Nicaragua teaching conservation-oriented field courses and working with the local human communities. Building upon these experiences, we outline a set of ethical considerations and responsibilities for private reserves, conservation-oriented businesses, NGOs, and conservancies that help integrate members of the local community as stakeholders in conservation.

Preface to an ethics of education as a practice in its own right

Education as a practice in its own right (or sui generis practice) invokes quite a different set of ethical considerations than does education understood as a subordinate activity – i.e. prescribed and controlled in its essentials by the current powers-that-be in a society. But the idea of education as a vehicle for the ‘values’ of a particular group or party is so commonplace, from history's legacy as well as from ongoing waves of educational reforms, as to appear a quite natural one. So much is this case that the idea of education as a sui generis practice may seem a bit eccentric at first sight. Some preliminary work is called for then to render intelligible the claim that education is indeed a practice in its own right, and to illustrate the original starting point this gives for an exploration of educational ethics. In undertaking this preliminary work, central themes from two major sources are explored and reviewed: Richard Peters’ well-known study Ethics and education and MacIntyre's After virtue. The suggestive merits of both works for advancing a sui generis understanding of education and its conduct are identified. But crucial occlusions are also highlighted in the arguments of both authors, the recognition of which might have enabled their thinking on educational matters to venture onto a different plane. The kind of thinking that emerges from these investigations as most promising for educational ethics is seen to differ in its key features from what the various branches of academic philosophy have to offer by way of ethical theory.

Ethical Considerations in Psychiatric Genetics

Ethical considerations in psychiatric genetics are highly complex and fluid. This review introduces the reader to the wide range of ethical considerations in this field by examining four characteristics of genetic information. First, genetic information may, to a greater or lesser extent, predict a person's future health. Second, learning about one's genotype may have profound psychosocial consequences. Third, genetic information pertains to a person's biological relatives and thus can affect family members, communities, and population groups. Finally, psychiatric genetics is a rapidly evolving field. None of these characteristics is necessarily “exceptional” or unique to genetics, but they provide a useful framework for teasing apart a complex set of ethical considerations. This article reviews conceptual and empirical data that speak to these four characteristics and then presents a set of conceptual frameworks that can be used to systematically analyze the ethics of psychiatric genetic research and cli...

Ethical Considerations in Psychiatric Genetics

Ethical considerations in psychiatric genetics are highly complex and fluid. This review introduces the reader to the wide range of ethical considerations in this field by examining four characteristics of genetic information. First, genetic information may, to a greater or lesser extent, predict a person's future health. Second, learning about one's genotype may have profound psychosocial consequences. Third, genetic information pertains to a person's biological relatives and thus can affect family members, communities, and population groups. Finally, psychiatric genetics is a rapidly evolving field. None of these characteristics is necessarily "exceptional" or unique to genetics, but they provide a useful framework for teasing apart a complex set of ethical considerations. This article reviews conceptual and empirical data that speak to these four characteristics and then presents a set of conceptual frameworks that can be used to systematically analyze the ethics of psychiatric genetic research and clinical genotyping. Finally, directions for future study are described--including the urgent need to gather data on actual risks and benefits of psychiatric genetic research and clinical applications, so that their utility can be assessed and appropriate ethical safeguards identified.

Ethical considerations in treating the horse with laminitis

Clinicians treating a horse with laminitis face a difficult set of ethical considerations in trying to decide where to draw the line. Not only do they have to grapple with their own professional, ethical and personal judgments, but they have to balance these with the wishes and interests of the animal’s owner, their employer. This balancing of moral considerations is extremely complex. By looking at the perspectives of both the clinician and bioethicist, the issues are clarified by discussing the competing ethical considerations felt by the practicing equine veterinarian.

Ethical considerations in the formation of smallpox vaccine policy.

FOR MONTHS NOW, the nation has been embroiled in controversy about smallpox vaccine. That there is considerable disagreement about whom to vaccinate and when is hardly surprising. The alternatives confronting policy makers involve trade-offs of both incommensurable values and uncertain societal risks. The purpose of this article is to propose a set of ethical considerations that ought to be considered in our deliberations about the most appropriate public policy for smallpox vaccination in the United States. The considerations outlined below are meant to facilitate the accounting of these trade-offs and highlight the importance of public dialogue and sound judgment in the development of morally defensible public policy options. Once each of the considerations has been explicated, we briefly discuss two examples of the types of competing values we may encounter in the development and implementation of smallpox vaccination policy.

Ethical issues in cystic fibrosis newborn screening: from data to public health policy.

Newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) remains controversial largely because its implementation is less a scientific decision than a resolution of different and often conflicting normative values that underlie the policy issues framing the debate. This article summarizes the literature published between May 2001 and April 2002 (and relevant earlier literature) regarding the screening and treatment goals, clinical benefits and harms, and programmatic and ethical issues. Finally, we will present an analysis to argue for one set of ethical considerations that point to very specific policy recommendations that would justify CF newborn screening in certain circumstances and make its implementation more ethically appropriate.

Maps on Stone: The Web and Ethics in Cartography

Cartographers have struggled with a variety of ethical questions that relate both to how maps should properly convey information and the role of maps in society at large. Monmonier questions the ethics of authoring single, highly authored interpretations of reality. Wood points to the close relationship between cartography and government. A number of ethical questions also surround maps and the Internet. The World Wide Web has emerged as an important new medium for cartography. It is estimated that over 50 million maps are distributed via the web on a daily basis. In the transition to a new medium, ethical questions emerge about the role of cartographers as purveyors of information about the world, and the ethicacy of choosing a medium that limits access to maps. Ethics are the moral principles, based on social values, that define a code of right and wrong or good and bad. Some ethical codes are set in law but most are simply unwritten rules. Acceptance of a common ethic forms the basis of society. The ethical codes may be set in place by society at large or by any particular sub-group of society. The medical profession, for example, is guided by implicit and explicit ethical codes that have a large influence on how doctors provide medical care to patients. Cartography is also guided by a set of ethical considerations. For