ethics and science skills biology

concequence based ethical approach

• the action which leads to be best overal outcome

• which action produces the most good and the least harm

• best results

duty rules based approach

• must follow moral rules and dutys even if the outcome is bad

• which actions is morally right regardless of concequences

• following the rules

virtues based approach

• be a good person who practices virtues (honesty, compassion, courage)

• what would a good person choose

• best character

ethical factors

social, economic, legal, political

integrity

- doing the right thing when no one is looking

- honest reporting of results/sources

respect

- considering welfare/autotomy/culture

- protect those with diminished capacity

beneficence

- maximise benefits to other people

- doing good

justice

- fairness

- equal access/distribution to resources/earnings

non-maleficence

- doing no harm

- avoiding actions that will lead to harmful consequences

social factor

community impact

economic factor

costs, funding, profits, job, who can afford access`

legal factor

laws, regulations, and guidelines in force

political factor

government priotires, funding decisions, policy change, public pressure

stakeholders

people who are effected by the decision

bioethical considerations

• animal welfare: minimising animal suffering.

• environment: preventing environmental harm.

technical considerations

• accuracy: ensuring reliable scientific results.

• safety: minimising risks of procedures.

• unintended consequences: considering unexpected outcomes.

primary data

first hand information, results collected by yourself

secondary data

results collected by other scientists

how can bias occur in an experiment

• if students choose only sources that support their beliefs

• selection bias

accuracy

how close a measurement is to the true value

precision

how close repeated measurements are to each other

validity

whether an experiment measures what it intends to measure

reliability

whether results are consistent when repeated

quantitative data

numerical data that can be measured or counted

qualitative data

descriptive, non-numerical observations

independent variable

the variable deliberately changed

dependent variable

the variable measured or observed

controlled variables

variables kept constant to ensure a fair test

control group

group used for comparison that does not receive the treatment

repeatability

consistent results when the same person repeats an experiment

reproducibility

consistent results when different researchers repeat an experiment

random error

unpredictable variation between measurements

systematic error

consistent error shifting measurements in the same direction

anomaly

a result that differs significantly from other results

hypothesis

a testable prediction explaining an expected outcome

conclusion

summary of results and whether they support the hypothesi