Ethics of a Professional Inquiry

Ethics: Personal, Professional, Organisational, Societal 

Ethics can be personal, professional, organisational and societal. In case study 1, an excerpt from The Guardian Newspaper in November 2010, Robert Francis is looking into why so many patients died of preventable causes in the Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust. On a societal level the problem is that "the NHS finds it notoriously hard to admit a mistake." On an organisational level "the NHS Confederation has counted 698 auditing standards and 69 different auditing bodies" which is bad organizing because there are too many conflicting standards to follow. On a professional level "there is no statutory obligation to

be honest with patients when things go wrong" meaning that patients are kept in the dark about issues. Finally, on a personal level because there is no longer a community of health councils "patients struggle to make their voices heard".

Theoretical approaches to ethics:

Consequentialism

This theory is based on the writings of Jeremy Bentham and J.S Mills on Utilitarianism. The idea behind consequentialism is to maximize the utility of the outcomes. The long term results and the number of people who benefit from the action determines whether or not it is ethical.

Deontology

This theory is based on the idea of the idea that the motives behind the action determine whether it is right or wrong. Laws are normally based on this principle.

Virtue Ethics

This theory is about what one's actions say about them as a person. Consequences and rules are not what determine whether something is right or wrong but how the person is is what counts. Aristotle looked at virtue as a character trait. 

Case study 2 is a photograph and explanation of how photographer Kevin Carter took an award winning photo of a Sudanese girl struggling to get to water and then left her to die then later killed himself. Before embarking on the assignment he was told not to touch anyone because of disease and as a photographer his job is not to interfere with his subjects.

From a consequentialist view there are two ways I can see to argue whether what he did was ethical or not. Firstly, I could argue that he should have sacrificed his role as a photographer and helped her to the water. She would not have died and therefore he would not have felt guilty and killed himself. He would have broken ethical rules for the greater good and therefore restored things ethically. However, my second argument from a consequentialists view is, what if by touching her he did catch disease and made more people ill? If in the long term more people died from the action (not just himself and the girl) then ethically he did the right thing by leaving her to die. 

From a deontologist's viewpoint Carter's actions were ethically right because his motive was just to take a picture. There are no bad intentions behind this motive so he was in the right. He also followed the ethics of what is right as a photographer which is to observe not get involved.

Virtue ethics would ask the question, what do Carter's actions say about his character? Our human nature and compassion would surely play a part in this scenario and thus saving the girl would be seen as the virtuous thing to do not taking a good photograph.

Professional Ethics and Reading 1

Reading 1 is a excerpt from Equity in Dance Education Where Are We Now? by Doug Risner, Ph.D., M.F.A. (2006) This article is about equity (fairness) in dance education. In his findings about the amount of training dancers must go through to achieve employment, versus what benefits they will see from their hard work financially, we can see how professional ethics conflict with personal ethics. 

"Though years of training are mandatory preparation for the student dancer, substantive issues of career length, earnings, and advancement opportunities are highly limited." - Risner (2006)

On a personal level, the dancer considers working hard a virtue and puts in the time and effort to become the best performer they can be. Yet, the dancing profession does not allow dancers to make a lot of money or progress much in their field. This is an example of how professional and personal ethics can conflict.

There is also the matter of gender equity within dance education. Although there are far more women than men within the dance profession, it often the case that men get treated better with better opportunities. From my own experience as a dancer I have been in situations where I have worked with men who I believe are not professional in their conduct or are lacking in talent yet gain employment and actually make more money than us females simply because of their gender due to the smaller numbers of male dancers. As part of the article Risner looked at Dawn Clark's research into female dance educators who found a number of problems including a lack of personal growth within their career.

"dance educators are paradoxically placed in neither/nor situations for promotion, tenure, and research." – Clark

This means that on a personal level of ethics it is likely that female dance educators will not expect to get raises in salary or even job security from their profession. The professional ethics here are unfair towards women.

Analysing Ethical Problems

Meta-Ethics

The description of what moral terms are at play in a situation. Meta-Ethics looks at a situation objectively rather than subjectively.

Theoretical Normative Ethics

This involves looking at situations subjectively and making decisions and judgments as to whether something is morally right or wrong. In this category we have Moral Axiology, Virtue Ethics and Theory of Moral Obligation

Applied Ethics

Coming to a conclusion about whether an act is right or wrong.

Analyzing Case Study 2 with this structure

Looking at the case study with a meta-ethical eye, here are the facts which should be addressed:

1)     Carter is a photographer who took a photo which won an award.

2)     Carter stuck to a pre-instructed code of conduct not to touch anybody for fear of epidemics.

3)     Carter stuck to his role as a photographer and observed but did not intervene.

4)     Carter let his subject die.

5)     Carter killed himself through guilt.

Now moving on to theological normative ethics to determine whether how the above facts work morally. Firstly, using moral axiology (good vs evil) to look at the first fact I can say that a photographer taking a picture is neither good or evil as he is just doing his job. The second fact I think can be seen as a good act from a moral axiologist's point of view as he followed the rules and did not touch his subject because for a 'good' reason. The third fact is also morally acceptable as he did not want to breach a code of conduct. However, the fourth fact could be seen as morally evil because by putting his role as a photographer first the outcome is that the girl died. Then there is the question of whether him killing himself is evil or good. He did it because he felt guilt for the girl who died which means that in a way he has settled the score which could be seen as a good thing. However, can committing suicide, for whatever reason, ever be seen as a good thing? Fundamentally, this action is morally wrong and so I think it would be seen as a bad thing by a moral axiologist. The fact is, there is no proof whether he killed himself because he felt morally obliged to or that he felt it would even the score between himself and the girl. All we know is he felt guilt.

In virtue ethics we need to think about what each fact says about Carter's character. The first three facts are all about him being a photographer, doing his job and sticking to the rules. However, these acts of him sticking to the rules resulted in the fourth fact which is that he let a child die. From the point of view of virtue ethics this action is morally wrong. He let his profession over-ride human nature. The fact that he then killed himself from guilt proves that human nature did kick in in the end this could be seen as virtuous.

From the point of view of theory of moral obligation we need to decide whether Carter had a moral duty to behave the way he did. One way to look at this is to put his actions as a photographer up against his actions as a human. Professionally he was morally obligated not to touch the child for fear of disease. Yet moral obligation as a human being would say to throw his role as a photographer out of the window in order to save the girls life. Then comes the notion of his suicide. Did Carter think of this as a moral obligation as a human being? 

After debating this case from all sides I have come to the conclusion that Carter was facing conflicting personal and professional ethics. From a professional point of view Carter was ethically right in his actions up until the point that he killed himself because he was jsut following a code of conduct set up to make him an ethical photographer. When he committed suicide though, that meant that his personal ethics over-rode his professional ethics. There must be many cases like this one, of photographers leaving their subjects at risk but we hear about this one because he firstly won a prize and then committed suicide. On the other hand, from the point of view of Carter as a human being his compassion should have forced him to help the child so therefore it was morally wrong of him to do what he did. However, the fact that he killed himself shows that his personal ethics were haunting him.

Ethical Arguments and Reading 2

Reading 2 is an excerpt from The Ethics Of Theatre Practice by Graham Woodruff (2005). Woodruff writes about core values of a changing world and therefore a changing radical theatre. 

Core Value 1 is based on classical and Victorian ethics and is about striving for a 'common good'. A good which creates opportunity for everyone.

Core Value 2 is again based on classical and Victorian ethics is about actively doing things to change the world.

However, it has been argued that finding the 'common good' for everybody is impossible. Marxism has been subject to '20th Century Pessimism' and one reason due to how the class system has changed,

"The working class, it is argued, has ‘disappeared’, ‘fundamentally changed’ or ‘radically altered'" - Woodruff (2005)

This means that if I were to create a piece of radical theatre based on class it would not actually be very radical at all because the concept is considered obsolete. Race, gender and sexual orientation have taken the place of class when it comes to societal divides. This brings us to the next core value in Woodruff’s findings.

Core Value 3

is that practice should be located within the struggles of the day. This is where moral relativism comes into radical theatre. The theory of moral relativism comes from the notion that everything is relative and so in one place or time something could be morally right yet in another time or place it could be morally wrong. It is hard to find absolute answers to moral questions because many things are not universally right or wrong.

Looking at the ethics in Case Study: The Dance Class

Firstly, there is the owner of the school who argues that he rents out cheap studios to teachers and after that it is not his business what the teacher do in their lessons because he is concerned about having full classes. It would appear that this man's main goal is to make money. Professionally I think that he is ethically wrong because he owns the school and therefore it is his business what goes on there. However, from a moral relativist’s point of view it could be argued that his actions are just because he is running a business and if his main aim is to make money then it seems to be working.

The fact that neither of the teachers warmed their class up also seems ethically wrong because the dancers could get injured and put their careers in jeopardy. From a moral relativist's point of view, if the class was short due to the owner wanting to optimize profits by fitting in as many dance classes as possible and if there isn't a lesson plan available to the dancers taking the class that says they are going to do a warm-up then they don't ethically have to do one. Furthermore, dancers should be responsible for their own health.

Finally, there is the teacher who singles out one student to bully with the excuse of it being practice for being in a company. Again, this seems ethically wrong to hurt somebody purposefully within a working environment. However, from my experience this line about setting you up for the real world is common in dance education and if his comments were relatively kind compared to what the student might hear in a company then it could be argued to have some moral standing.

Research Ethics and Reading 3

General rules of research ethics

1)     Plagiarism - One must ensure not to pass anybody else's words off as their own. Quotations must be clearly recognizable.

2)     Only Ask What is Necessary - There must be a legitimate reason to ask every question.

3)     Covert vs Overt Observation - If the inquiry is carried out covertly there could be the problem of it becoming unethical because the participants won't know and that connects to the ethics of permission. However, if it is carried out overtly will the participants act differently because they know they are being observed?

4)     Maintaining Objectivity - One must stay objective and not try to influence the outcome in any way.

5)     Reporting Data - All data must be reported. None should be left out.

6)     Protecting Data - Data must be kept safe so that nobody else reads it. It must be disposed of properly after the inquiry is finished.

7)     Preventing Harm - One must consider whether the treatment of the participants as a part of the inquiry could be detrimental. 

8)     Permission - If the participants are children (under 18 years of age) permission may have to be granted by their parents. Employers should grant permission for their employees to take part too.

9)     Safety of Participants - Free speech should be encouraged but nobody should be left feeling abused by other members of a focus group.

When considering the Case Study: An Extreme Case of Plagiarism. Plagiarism is not the only action that can be deemed unethical by the Spanish research team here. I think that the most important facets of the character of a researcher are that they are honest in their conduct and with their findings and they remain professional at all times. The Spanish research team broke many of the general rules of research ethics.

1)     They plagiarized -They should never have tried to pass the U.S team’s work off as their own in the first place.

2)     They did not seek permission – If they had wanted to use any information that was not their own they should have asked permission knowing what a ground - breaking research case this was.

3)     They did not report data accurately – By passing the research off as their own they also broke the rules about accurately reporting data.

Finally, another issue in this case was tat the data was left on an open website for it to be viewed by the public. Whoever was responsible for this also breached the rules of research ethics because data should always be protected from people not involved and who do not need to see it.

Reading 3 is from Trans-disciplinary inquiry – researching with rather than researching on by Danny Doyle (2007). This reading looks at how research should be carried out ethically within education. The standard of what is ethical for educational research is set out by the British Education Research Association or BERA. This reading concentrates a lot on how to do research with children as the participants. However, the basic rules of research ethics are universal and are the same for both children and adults. The first topic raised in the reader is,


Informed Consent


This is when the participant is given the following information about the research:

“what the research is for;who will conduct the research and how;how data will be collected and what will happen to the data including where it will be
stored and who will see it;whether there are any risks, physical or psychological;how confidentiality will be dealt with; when the research is finished whether it will be
published and who will read it; and finallythe benefits participants will enjoy”  - Doyle (2007)

In the reading we are given an example of a teacher who asks parents of the children in her class whether she can use them as participants for research but she does not inform them appropriately and therefore consent is not granted by the majority of the parents until she explains further and informs them of the above points.
Another issue raised is that of the role of the teacher. Even before any research is done a teacher has a higher status than the children and the parents may not want to say no to the research in case it affects the child-teacher relationship. Therefore, researchers need to be very careful not to use the power given to them by their role as researchers or, in this case, teachers to sway the participants.


Gatekeeper


A gatekeeper gives consent for children who are unable to give their own consent. However, in the reader we hear about a group of teachers who were part of research they did not know about because consent was given by their head teacher who was acting as gatekeeper in this scenario but as adults they should have been given the breakdown leading to informed consent either by the researchers or by the head teacher. They were later informed but it was not until after the research so the research became ineffectual.
There is also the question of whether capable children are able to give consent for themselves without parental permission.

 “a parent cannot consent to research on behalf of a competent child.” – Masson (2000)

This means that it is the job of the researcher to decide whether the child is able enough to consent to research which can be sometimes difficult.


Withdrawal


According to BERA’s guidelines a participant has the right to withdraw from research whenever they choose. This can be disappointing if the data the participant has given during the time they were a part of the research is interesting and useful. The example given in the reading is of a trial approach to arts within schools. The girl the reader focuses on had learning difficulties and permission was granted by her parents. The down side was that after excelling as part of the trial she changed her mind and wanted to be withdrawn yet that meant that anything she had produced as part of the research could not be used. However, when she changed her mind back and they asked her permission to use her artwork in their presentation.
This example finished with the researchers being able to use what she had created even though she had withdrawn. However, it is not always that straight forward and researchers must remember that the participant’s right to withdraw is more important than getting good data.


Confidentiality


BERA states that in educational research confidentiality is standard. Care must be taken, especially in qualitative research, to ensure that anonymity is kept. In the example given in the reader, a teacher can be identified in research by the fact he is the only Mr in the school. Although all the teachers’ surnames are replaced by a colour he is still recognizable among the Miss’ or Mrs’.
To ensure participants of research are treated with absolute confidentiality many other features beyond their name must be thought about, such as their age, gender and their physical description.


Reliability


Data needs to be reliable in order for the outcome to have any standing. In the example given in the reader, a teacher gives her opinion about something her head teacher did as a ‘vital piece of evidence’. However, opinions are subjective. The teacher did not want to discuss what she had written with any other teachers in the school because it would be embarrassing. This meant that she had only her opinion to base her point on. However, one person’s opinion does not make a reliable piece of data. If she had asked 30 members of staff whether they thought what the head teacher did was right or wrong and the outcome was 25/5 on the side of the head teacher being wrong then she could include it in the research. Of course she did not want to discuss this topic with anyone else leaving her findings very unbalanced and unreliable and so she should not have included them.


Researching with rather than researching on


The term ‘participants’ is ethically better than ‘subjects’ because it suggests playing an active role in the research rather than being subjected to the research.


Power of the Researcher and Reading 5


The power the researcher has over their participants can make research unethical. The reading, Action Research in Education: Addressing Gaps in Ethical Principles and Practices by Amanda L. Nolen and Jim Vander Putten (2007) is about how difficult the ethics of action research can be when it involves teachers as researchers and students as participants. Teachers already hold power because of their status in a school environment,

“Teachers as researchers need to be aware of the differential power relationships between the teacher and student. These are social and historical and not personal, they already exist in the classroom before any teaching takes place” - Shor & Friere (1987)

At school we are taught to do as we are told by our teacher. In research ethics this cannot happen. A researcher cannot tell their participants to follow orders. This means that teacher researchers need to be very aware of possible ethical problems they may encounter.
According to the American Medical Association a clinician doing research is still a clinician before a researcher,

“The physician cannot abandon the role of clinician and must exercise professional judgment and skill in the best interest of the patient” AMA (2001)

Working on this basis, a teacher researcher should always put their profession before the research they are carrying out. However, the problem is that this may jeopardize the researcher-participant relationship of the research.
Another issue raised in the reading is that of confidentiality. This part applies to all research ethics and is not specific to the case in the reader. Confidentiality is very important in research and a researcher should consider things such as if they save their data on a computer, which I feel is often the most practical solution. How secure is it? The researcher must devise a way of keeping it safe which includes deciding where to save the data in the computer and also adding passwords so that unauthorized people do not see it.


Presenting Data


The Case Study: Presenting Findings is an example of lacking ethics when presenting data. Colloquial and sometimes offensive terms are used to describe the participants and there are no quotations to prove the points the researcher was trying to make. This makes their findings hard to read and it is hard to take any of their research seriously. A lesson to learn from this is to always present your findings accurately, using politically correct terminology.