Read the case below. In a 400- to 1000-word essay make an ethical argument that answers the question at the end of the case—What should Richard do?—and is based on the responsibilities and privileges of the interested parties in the case.
As this is an argumentative style essay, it must have a thesis statement.
For this essay, your argument should be focused on the responsibilities and privileges of the interested parties. In this assignment the responsibilities of and privileges of interested parties will be the key to the reasoning that supports your thesis.
In particular, your essay will demonstrate your grasp of Richard’s varied responsibilities as a Principal Investigator (PI) of a lab including his professional obligations to people who supervise him, those whom he supervises, and even to broader interested parties, such as the scientific community. Your essay must also reflect how other interested parties have responsibilities and expectations to help guide your answer to the question, “What should Richard do?”
Case: Accusations of Falsifying Data[1]
Richard is a young Associate Professor of biochemistry at a major research university. He is unmarried, lives with his parents, and devotes all his time to establishing his scientific career and develop his lab into a highly successful scientific enterprise that is turning out world class publications. He has remained in close touch with John, his PhD advisor, and thinks of their relationship as a warm mutual friendship.
John tells Richard that one of his former PhD students, Allan, had fallen on hard times. He’d lost his first academic appointment and was now driving a cab in the city where Richard lives. John suggests that Richard hire the down-and-out guy who is 15 years his senior and practically homeless.
Richard hires Allen as a favor to his old mentor. He has Allan work with some research assistants in his lab. For the first six months, Allan’s work is poor, and he resents Richard’s supervision. Allan not only insists that his work is superior to that of others, he also makes unacceptable personal remarks to female graduate students.
Richard becomes totally fed up with Allan’s attitude and upset at himself for taking Allan in. Richard begins thinking about the steps he needs to take with Human Resources to fire Allen but feels somewhat immobilized at how he has let Allen manipulate him and get away with his poor performance.
Richard becomes more assertive, laying down the law and stating what he expects of Allan, specifically, some decent data on the experiments they’re running. In response, Allan produces a dataset that fits Richard’s hypotheses a little too perfectly. Richard questions him, and has a student gather some more data, which do not resemble Allan’s data at all. When Richard confronts him with this discrepancy, Allan leaves the lab in a huff.
The next morning, he bristles with hostility as he hands a copy of a letter to Richard, saying “You thought you could cross me, didn’t you? I just sent this.”
Allan’s letter was to the Dean of Academic Affairs. In it he claimed that Richard had required him to falsify data and that much of the data Richard had published in the last two years was falsified.
In a way, Richard is not surprised, but in another he is incredulous that Allan would do such a thing. Richard is sure the Dean will not take the accusation seriously since Allan lacks standing. Nevertheless, Richard is troubled that this alleged complaint may come down to his word against Allen’s.
What should Richard do?
The Fine Print
Responses should:
Be 400 – 1000 words
Use 1 distinct citation from course material to support your argument (Ch 1 & 2)
Use a standard 10 or 12-point font
Use standard 1 to 1.25-inch margins
When you draw on course materials, you need to cite them appropriately. Your essay should include in-text citations or footnotes and a bibliography or works cited list. You may use any major citation system you are comfortable with—MLA, APA, Chicago, etc. However, include page numbers in your in-text citations or footnotes. Although including page numbers in citations is unusual in scientific citation styles, citations to our text are not very illuminating without them. Other than adding page numbers, pick one system, know how to use it, and use it consistently.
Background and Grading Rubric
See Introduction to Case Assignments for Background.
See Rubric below for grading schema.
Hints
Who are the interested parties?
As you prepare to write this essay, identify the relevant actors: people that are doing things, people and institutions that are affected by the things other people do, etc. Cases typically have major and minor parties. Major parties are named in the case and take key actions. Minor parties are affected by the situation but may not be directly involved in the action and or named in the scenario. In addition to people, institutions (e.g., universities, journals, funding agencies), animals, and common goods (e.g., the environment, knowledge) can be interested parties.
How do I figure out responsibilities, privileges, interests, and reasonable expectations?
An easy place to start thinking about responsibilities, privileges, interests, and reasonable expectations is to imagine yourself in the position of the party at stake, and think about what you would expect from others, what your goals are, and what professional privileges you have in this situation. Ask: what would be happening if everything was going well in this situation?
Your background readings from Shamoo and Resnik should also be helpful. What are the professional ethical expectations of scientists as they interact with each other, research subjects, and the broader public as they create knowledge?
[1] DuBois, James M. “Case Four: Accusations of Falsifying Data.” In RCR Casebook: Stories about Researchers Worth Discussing. Office of Research Integrity.
