Research ethics: what should be on the agenda?

Prof. Laetus O.K. LateganDean: Research and Innovation

Traditionally ... a view on research ethics

• 1. Fabrication of information and data

• 2. Falsification of information and data

• 3. Plagiarism

• 4. Research on human subjects

• 5. (Human interaction)

Introduction

• Observation: a growing interest in ethics beyond medicine - business, environment, research, etc.)

• Conclusion: Now is the time to show me and not tell me

Application to SATN?

• “Technology with a human face” (large number of management and education programmes)

• Research – fabrication and falsification of data; research on human subjects and animals, innovation and commercialisation

Contents

• Conceptual matters

• Case studies

• Ethics in the curriculum

• Accepted ethical values

• The research cycle and ethics

• Items for the agenda

Conceptual matters

• What is ethics? Greek ethos = house ethos deepest motivation.

• Ethics more than ethical code = expression of desired behavior of employees.

• Morality = expected societal behaviour

• Integrity = public trust

• References: Badaracco & Webb: Personal reflection and individual values, Donaldson & Dunfee: Social contracts in business, Jim Fisher – Making choices

Ethics – no isolated concept

Five case studies

Johnson and Johnson case (James Burke)

“The customer comes first”

The parable of the Sadhu (Bowen McCoy)

Cannot pass the buck

Whose lab is this anyway? Roles and responsibilities

View from the trenches (Badaracco and Webb)

Poor to communicate organisational and professional values

The commercialisation of higher education (D Bok)

Don’t forget the core functions of a university

Ethics in the curriculum

Smit (2000) writes extensively on ethics in the curriculum. He mentions three reasons why the teaching of ethics is important:

• It is an anthropological matter because it influences the lives of people on a daily basis.

• It is an academic matter because it serves as counterpart for

reductionism.

• It is a social matter because the academy also has the

responsibility of addressing community problems.

 

Ethics in the curriculum – reference JH Smith (2000)

Accepted ethical values

Items for the research agenda (associated with the research cycle)

Agenda list

Acknowledgement

• National Research Foundation

• CUT Research Grant Awards Committee

Laetus O K Lategan