Ethics – so crucial to the Sciences, but talk about subjective

Last semester I struggled my way through Biostatistics. What a brutal challenge that was. During the course I found myself sufficiently frustrated by the options available in relation to which statistical analyses could be used for processing data and gleaning results from. I felt that you could almost just morph and tweak the data at whim – although in practice that’s not how it really works, but it was how it seemed at first. 

To an extent that’s how I feel about ethics in the Sciences. Again, there are lots of options of ethical principles and moral considerations to choose from and apply them how you feel works best for your research, or the report you’re working on. A couple of the principles that stand out for me are Egoism and Utilitarian.

Ethical principles such as honesty and truthfulness, carefulness to limit errors or be biased, openness with data and being accepting of review, freedom to conduct research, giving credit rightly where credit is due, and educating other scientists and the public all sound like normal and ‘right’ things to do. But hang on, doesn’t everyone think that way too and abide by them? 

No. 

The reality is that some people, or companies, adopt the philosophical theory of Egoism whereby the promotion of one’s self and personal goals is the main motivator. Greed and selfishness comes to mind with this philosophy. 

Another well known philosophical theory used in the Sciences is Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism focuses on consequences with the aim to maximise and promote whichever option will do the greatest good for the greatest number. Options need to be weighed up, and although this sounds like a great fit for most situations, there could be victims. 

Why do ethical principles need to be incorporated within the Sciences? Well, Ethics help set the boundaries for whether scientific methods, research, and practices are suitable within our societal construct, and are responsibly undertaken. 

Ethics give a framework for how to respect humans and animals research subjects. They also give credibility, and add weight to any research and findings, and are more likely to be respected by key decision makers. 

In short, ethical principles aim to safe guard scientific research and practices. Just browse the ethical principles catalogue and choose which works best and then apply to your work. 

NB: Originally posted on 20 Dec 2015. Updated 18 Jan 2016.