As mentioned at the beginning of this workshop, there is no simple roadmap for practicing 'good ethics' and, indeed, what constitutes 'good' or "ethical" for one individual may vary from the next and often is reflective of a scholar's political commitments and personal background. Nonetheless, this workshop will foreground key ethical questions to ask (and keep asking!) when designing and doing digital projects or digital research, and key concepts to draw upon when thinking through these questions.
To do so, I would argue, requires thinking with and beyond the institutional requirements stipulated by the IRB, and formal methods (e.g.: Darren Abramson and Lee Pike, "When Formal Systems Kill: Computer Ethics and Formal Methods," 2011).
Think about the digital project or research you are or will be working on. Pair up with another person near you and discuss:
- In 1 minute each, what is the purpose of your project—what does it aim to do?
- In 1 minute each, what is the design of your project—how will you do this?
- In relation to each of your projects' purpose and design, what might be some ethical concerns that fall beyond questions of legality or the purview of the IRB?
Share as a class.