TY - JOUR
T1 - Using Ethical Reasoning to Amplify the Reach and Resonance of Professional Codes of Conduct in Training Big Data Scientists
AU - Tractenberg, Rochelle E.
AU - Russell, Andrew J.
AU - Morgan, Gregory J.
AU - FitzGerald, Kevin T.
AU - Collmann, Jeff
AU - Vinsel, Lee
AU - Steinmann, Michael
AU - Dolling, Lisa M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, The Author(s).
PY - 2015/12/1
Y1 - 2015/12/1
N2 - The use of Big Data—however the term is defined—involves a wide array of issues and stakeholders, thereby increasing numbers of complex decisions around issues including data acquisition, use, and sharing. Big Data is becoming a significant component of practice in an ever-increasing range of disciplines; however, since it is not a coherent “discipline” itself, specific codes of conduct for Big Data users and researchers do not exist. While many institutions have created, or will create, training opportunities (e.g., degree programs, workshops) to prepare people to work in and around Big Data, insufficient time, space, and thought have been dedicated to training these people to engage with the ethical, legal, and social issues in this new domain. Since Big Data practitioners come from, and work in, diverse contexts, neither a relevant professional code of conduct nor specific formal ethics training are likely to be readily available. This normative paper describes an approach to conceptualizing ethical reasoning and integrating it into training for Big Data use and research. Our approach is based on a published framework that emphasizes ethical reasoning rather than topical knowledge. We describe the formation of professional community norms from two key disciplines that contribute to the emergent field of Big Data: computer science and statistics. Historical analogies from these professions suggest strategies for introducing trainees and orienting practitioners both to ethical reasoning and to a code of professional conduct itself. We include two semester course syllabi to strengthen our thesis that codes of conduct (including and beyond those we describe) can be harnessed to support the development of ethical reasoning in, and a sense of professional identity among, Big Data practitioners.
AB - The use of Big Data—however the term is defined—involves a wide array of issues and stakeholders, thereby increasing numbers of complex decisions around issues including data acquisition, use, and sharing. Big Data is becoming a significant component of practice in an ever-increasing range of disciplines; however, since it is not a coherent “discipline” itself, specific codes of conduct for Big Data users and researchers do not exist. While many institutions have created, or will create, training opportunities (e.g., degree programs, workshops) to prepare people to work in and around Big Data, insufficient time, space, and thought have been dedicated to training these people to engage with the ethical, legal, and social issues in this new domain. Since Big Data practitioners come from, and work in, diverse contexts, neither a relevant professional code of conduct nor specific formal ethics training are likely to be readily available. This normative paper describes an approach to conceptualizing ethical reasoning and integrating it into training for Big Data use and research. Our approach is based on a published framework that emphasizes ethical reasoning rather than topical knowledge. We describe the formation of professional community norms from two key disciplines that contribute to the emergent field of Big Data: computer science and statistics. Historical analogies from these professions suggest strategies for introducing trainees and orienting practitioners both to ethical reasoning and to a code of professional conduct itself. We include two semester course syllabi to strengthen our thesis that codes of conduct (including and beyond those we describe) can be harnessed to support the development of ethical reasoning in, and a sense of professional identity among, Big Data practitioners.
KW - Big Data
KW - Curriculum
KW - Ethics education
KW - Professionalism
KW - Training
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84948092763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11948-014-9613-1
DO - 10.1007/s11948-014-9613-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 25431219
AN - SCOPUS:84948092763
SN - 1353-3452
VL - 21
SP - 1485
EP - 1507
JO - Science and Engineering Ethics
JF - Science and Engineering Ethics
IS - 6
ER -