5 - Doing science responsibly and ethically

Summary

Introduction

By now you are likely to have a very clear idea about how science is done. Science is the process of rational enquiry, which seeks explanations for natural phenomena. Scientific method was discussed in a very prescriptive way in Chapter 2 as the proposal of a hypothesis from which predictions are made and tested by doing experiments. Depending on the results, which may have to be analyzed statistically, the decision is made to either retain or reject the hypothesis. This process of knowledge by disproof advances our understanding of the natural world and seems impartial and hard to fault.

Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case because science is done by human beings who sometimes do not behave responsibly or ethically. For example, some scientists fail to give credit to those who have helped propose a new hypothesis. Others make up, change or delete results so their hypothesis is not rejected, omit details to prevent the detection of poor experimental design, and deal unfairly with the work of others. Most scientists are not taught about responsible behavior and are supposed to learn a code of conduct by example. Considering the number of cases of scientific irresponsibility that have been exposed, this does not seem to be a very good strategy. Thus, this chapter is about the importance of behaving responsibly and ethically when doing science.