Statistics and Ethics - Essay Example

 Statistics and Ethics Introduction Statistics is manly the collection data, analyzing and deriving correct and reliable conclusion from the data. To accomplish these, statisticians are bound under by the Doctrine Statement, which is combined with ethical theories. The Doctrine Statement portrays the essence of God and the expectations of an individual when solving conflicting issues to ensure that the individual uses his knowledge and understanding of biblical morals to limit unethical behaviors (Declaration on Professional Ethics, 2010). On the other hand, ethics deals on the issues of right or wrong or good and bad. There are various ethical theories taught in Statistics courses, namely utilitarianism, egoism, deontology, and the ethics of care, rights theory and theory of justice (Brady & Wheeler, 1996). There have been many issues regarding statistics being unethical due to various deceptions and discrimination. The statisticians have used the theories to defend their actions to prove that their actions are ethical. This essay intends to give a personal response to the most influential ethical theory and the ways it would change my decision-making. This will be achieved by discussing several issues in statistics and the responses of the statisticians using the ethical theories. Later the essay discusses the essence of using guidelines of principles from a Christian perspective would handle and understand the issues discussed under the other theories. Finally, the essay will have a conclusion that will summarize all the issues discussed in the paper. Major Statistical Issues There are many issues leading to the unethical conducts in statistics. These issues arise from the initial stages, intermediary and final stages. The initial stages comprise of formulating the goals and objectives of the research, design and data collection, this stage major ethical challenge is due to the political influence, personal beliefs and other influential people who intend to limit the ethical nature of the research. Intermediary stage comprises of data organization, the analysis and presentation. The major issues in this stage are poor handling of data leading to data tampering and poor interpretation of data that lead to false results. Finally, in the final stages most statistical conclusions and inferences are mistaking correlation with causality and misinterpretation of data to ensure benefits of some benefactors. These ethical issues are based on deception or discrimination of which decision is better than the other is (David, Timothy & Mark, 2013). Cases of Statistical Issues and Responses Based on Ethic Theories Personal values are very important when an individual is faced in a dilemma situation. The individual’s decision-making is based on the source of his personal values. These values result in the need to lie or not to lie based on the ethical theory he derives his personal values. The following are cases that portray the relationship of personal values and ethical theories in their decision-making. A person’s values derived from rights theory will decide not to deceive, if he acknowledges that deception would violate the rights of an individual. A statistician faced with a dilemma of lying to acquire benefits or improve the image of an organization may opt not to lie, since deception would lead to employees suffering since their rights to better salaries as the person’s values are derived from rights theory, which advocates for equal rights to all. This decision is similar, if the statistician faced with the dilemma derives his personal values from theory of justice. This Statistician will decide not to deceive since by deceiving, he would violate the rights of the weak who are oppressed by the low wages. If a statistician is faced with a dilemma of deception to show relationship of an organization facing financial constraints and the employees, the statistician may opt to deceive since telling the truth would cause unrest in regards to employees’ welfare. This decision to deceive is based on reasoning based on ethics of care. A dilemma may arise from one decision causing more harm than the other does or a decision may lead to more happiness than the other decision. If by deception, a research may cause more harm to a firm’s image or the people involved, a statistician may opt to tell the truth, since telling the truth will lead to less harm thus more happiness than by deceiving. This decision is based on reasoning derived from utilitarian ethics where it does not value whether the issue is right or wrong, but on the impact of an action would bring. It supports any decision that leads to happiness for the majority thus its decision-making does not rely on the action being good or evil if an evil action outweighs the good act, the utilitarian will advocate for the evil act and vice versa (Clegg, Kornberger & Rhodes, 2006). There are cases where the statistician is faced with a dilemma of obedience of the superior management and the person’s integrity. This dilemma is complicated since the statistician is faced with an issue that telling the truth is the right decision, but it would harm the organization’s image thus the management wants the statistician to lie. Failure to obey will result to the threat of his profession or losing his job. The statistician may opt to deceive reasoning from egoism theory, which claims that every individual thinks only of himself. These cases prove that personal values are created by his beliefs and any action can be proven that is ethical depending on the theory used to support one’s decision. All the theoretical responses to the issues are correct on a neutral view, but there are critics on the responses. The most applicable theory according to my personal value is rights theory. This is because it advocates for equal rights for every individual, as it believes that all people are equal and any action that violates any individual’s rights is unethical. Theory of justice follows closely as it advocates for the rights of the weak and oppressed. In the current world, the poor are discriminated and their rights are violated as many statistics portray them in a negative way due to the benefits associated with praising the rich and the superiors but theory of justice speaks for the weak. The decisions of most decisions are not from a Christian perspective, but since the Doctrine Statement of statistics is based on the belief of God and biblical in nature, the essay intends to portray the decision from Christian world view principles (Graham, 2001). Decisions Based on Christian World view Principles According to the Grand Canyon University mission statement; there are Christian values that a statistician should uphold to ensure that he works in accordance with the profession values and the accepted biblical moral values. The decision made based on egoism theory reasoning is unethical since the statistician knew it is wrong to deceive, but decided to lie to keep his job. The mission claim that a statistician should be a responsible leader as he would have stood his ground and accepted the consequences since the bible states, “Instead, whoever wants to become great amongst you should be your servant,” Matthew 20:26. Being a critical thinker is advocated in the mission, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the truth,” 2 Timothy 2:15. This is evident in rights theory where the statistician opted to tell the truth to ensure that the rights of the employees are respected. The decision based on utilitarian reasoning is wrong since if more people are happy when the decision supports evil, then it is wrong, as all practices should be made to honor and glorify the name of the Lord. “We affirm that the way we conduct ourselves as Christians in business will be a model of Kingdom living and integrity for our whole community; that the pursuit of excellence, loyal service, a professional approach, and accountability should be shown in our every task; and that part of Christian witness is the timely fulfillment of financial and contractual obligations.” (The Christian World View of Business and Occupations). This claim shows that the theory of care of the future should not lead to statistician giving false information as deception is biblically forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The Doctrine statement claims, “We believe… Christ’s church is an indictment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, denouncing evil and injustice…”supports the theory of justice but it defers with the reasoning of utilitarian theory. Conclusion The essay has used several theories to illustrate the justifications by the statisticians to prove that their deceptions or evil deeds are justifiable. The issues arise due to several external forces, for instance, politicians, societal and economic factors, but personal values are the determinants of the decision one makes. The ethic theories try to prove that any decision is right or wrong, but it is wise to use biblical teachings to ensure that we are able to make the right decision. God is always by our side, thus calling on Him when faced in any dilemma; He will always guide us to ensure that we make a decision that is acceptable to the Decalogue. The claim by utilitarian theorist that the best way to tackle a dilemma is by weighing on the negative and positive, then acting on the one that weighs more may be a good way of thinking, but one should embrace biblical teachings to ensure that evil is not given a chance to prevail over the good. Personal values being the key to any decision-making should be built on biblical morals to ensure that one can use any ethical theory, but since his values and morals are right he will always act in a good and right manner. It is clear to note that statistics and ethics go hand in hand, as any statistical research will only be reliable only if the statisticians are ethical in all stages. References “Declaration on Professional Ethics”, Adopted by the ISI Council, International Statistical Institute, 22 & 23 July 2010, retrieved September 10, 2015, isi-web.org/about/ethics-intro Brady, F.N., and Wheeler, G.E. (1996). An Empirical Study of Ethical Predispositions. Journal of Business Ethics: 15(9): 927-940. Clegg, S., Kornberger, M and Rhodes, C. (2006). Business Ethics as Practice. British Journal of Management, 17, 1-16. David M., Timothy C., & Mark L. (2013). Business Statistics: A first Course, Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Inc. Graham, J. M., (2001). “The ethical use of statistical analyses in psychological research”, Paper Presented at the annual meeting of Division 17 (Counselling Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, Houston, TX. The Christian World View of Business and Occupations Copyright 1989 and 1999, The Coalition on Revival, Inc. The Holy Bible, 2 Timothy 2:15 & Matthew 20:26 Read More