Reporting suspected abuse or neglect in research involving children.

In this article, we explore the ethical issues related to the reporting of suspected abuse or neglect in research involving children. Ethical dilemmas related to reporting child maltreatment are often complex because the rights of children and their adult caregivers may conflict and determinations of abuse or neglect are socially constructed judgments that depend on particular circumstances. We argue that when reporting is legally mandated, investigators must follow the law and report their suspicions to Child Protective Services. When reporting is not legally mandated, investigators still have an ethical obligation to report to help prevent additional maltreatment and allow children to obtain access to services needed to recover from abuse or neglect. We also argue that investigators should include plans and procedures in the research protocol for making reports and training research staff in recognising evidence of child abuse or neglect. Although investigators should report evidence of abuse or neglect that is discovered incidentally, they have no mandate to actively search for such evidence when it is not related to the study's objectives. Investigators should also inform parents and children about their obligations to report suspected abuse or neglect

Exploring scientific misconduct: isolated individuals, impure institutions, or an inevitable idiom of modern science?

This paper identifies three distinct narratives concerning scientific misconduct: a narrative of “individual impurity” promoted by those wishing to see science self-regulated; a narrative of “institutional impropriety” promoted by those seeking greater external control of science; and a narrative of “structural crisis” among those critiquing the entire process of research itself. The paper begins by assessing contemporary definitions and estimates of scientific misconduct. It emphasizes disagreements over such definitions and estimates as a way to tease out tension and controversy over competing visions of scientific research. It concludes by noting that each narrative suggests a different approach for resolving misconduct, and that the difference inherent in these views may help explain much of the discord concerning unethical behavior in the scientific community

Hierarchies Measuring Qualitative Variables

Abstract. Qualitative variables take symbolic values, such as hot, shoe, Europe or France. Sometimes, the values may be arranged in layers or levels of detail. For instance, the variable place_of_origin takes as level-1 values European, African... as level-2 values French, German... as level-3 values Californian, Texan... The paper describes a hierarchy, a mathematical construct among these variables. The confusion resulting when using a value instead of another is defined, as well as the closeness to which object o fulfills predicate P. Other operations among and properties of hierarchical values are derived. Hierarchies are compared with ontologies. Hierarchies find use in measuring linguistic relatedness or similarity. Hierarchical variables abound and are commonly used, often with suggestive string values, without fully realizing or exploiting its properties. We deal with arbitrary hierarchies. Examples are given.