At 7:14 AM -0500 5/18/02, Charles Ess wrote:
Colleagues: On behalf of the aoir ethics working committee, I am pleased to call your attention to a DRAFT statement, "Ethical decision-making and Internet research" - <http://www.cddc.vt.edu/aoir/ethics/public/draftthree.html>
This new document approaches issues of Internet research ethics in terms of the questions and issues that researchers from a variety of disciplines frequently encounter, and diverse ethical / cultural / national / legal responses to those questions and issues. It is emphatically _not_ an effort to legislate specific ethical requirements: it is rather intended as a way of helping researchers and those who may have oversight responsibilities for Internet research to sift through common issues and problems in ways that reflect both the considerable research experience of the aoir ethics working committee _and_ our best overview of the pertinent literatures (including conference presentations), etc.
The document is also emphatically a DRAFT. We present it to you now for comment, in hopes that the aoir membership will help us see ways to improve and revise the document. The final version of the document will be presented to the aoir membership for discussion and (we hope) approval at the October meeting in Maastricht. We'd very much like to work through your comments and insights as much as possible prior to the October meeting so that we can develop a document that represents reasonably well the aoir membership.
I note this in the report, but let me reiterate it here: my profound thanks to the members of the committee who have generously shared their time, expertise, and care through discussion and critical evaluation of the issues raised in this document. The committee includes: Poline Bala - Malaysia; Amy Bruckman - USA; Sarina Chen - USA; Brenda Danet - Israel/USA; Dag Elgesem - Norway; Charles Ess - USA; Andrew Feenberg - USA; Stine Gotved - Denmark; Christine M. Hine - UK; Soraj Hongladarom - Thailand; Jeremy Hunsinger - USA; Klaus Jensen - Denmark; Storm King - USA; Chris Mann - UK; Helen Nissenbaum - USA; Kate O'Riordan - UK; Paula Roberts - Australia; Wendy Robinson - USA; Leslie Shade - Canada; Malin Sveningson - Sweden; Leslie Tkach - Japan; John Weckert - Australia.
My thanks also to Jeremy Hunsinger who has served as our webmaster with unswerving efficiency and grace, and to Steve Jones for his continuing support and encouragement. As well - there was a recent discussion of Internet research ethics on the aoir list, including a nice summary by David Eddy Spicer. I have incorporated the several suggestions for pertinent literature in the document, noting the original contributors. Thanks especially to David, Yvonne Waern, Lois Ann Scheidt, Vincent Dwyer, and Amanda Lenhart for their contributions!
FWIW: I'm out of the States until June 10 - in part, in order to participate in some lectures, a conference, and a graduate course organized by aoir's very own Gitte Stald, Janne Bromseth, and Dag Elgesem (and announced on this list by Gitte and Janne: please contact them for more details if you're interested! Gitte Stald <stald@hum.ku.dk>, Janne Bromseth <janne.bromseth@hf.ntnu.no>). I hope to have e-mail in those most wired of all possible worlds - but I may not have the leisure to reply specifically to responses until we return in June.
Thanks again to all who have contributed to this document - beyond those mentioned above, this includes a number of aoir members who have commented on our preliminary report and the panel presentation on Internet research ethics at aoir 2.0, and others who have corresponded with me and the committee over time regarding specific concerns and debates.
On behalf of the ethics working committee, I very much look forward to your comments and discussion.
Cheers,
Charles Ess Director, Interdisciplinary Studies Center Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC 2002: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~sudweeks/catac02/ "...to be non-violent, we must not wish for anything on this earth which the meanest and lowest of human beings cannot have." -- Gandhi