Research Methods and Professional Practice

Discussion Topic: Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Pick a case study from the examples provided by the Association of Computing Machinery

Review the application of the ethics code to the situation described and highlight the impact on any relevant legal (jurisdictional or non-jurisdictional) and social issues, as well as on the professionalism of the computing professionals involved. You should provide comparisons to the British Computer Society (BCS) Code of Conduct.

You should demonstrate that you understand the topic covered and ensure you use references to academic literature (including journals, books, and reports). This activity will provide evidence of your personal growth and your summary post is required in your e-portfolio.

Your initial posting should respond to the question and be at least 200 words long. Your initial post should be labelled "initial post".

Read Correa et al. (2023) and Deckard (2023).

From late 2022, generative AI has taken the world by storm, and there is no field of activity that has not been impacted in some way. This is so much truer for Computer Science, which is where it all began. It is important to realise, however, that AI itself is nothing new, per se; and if the renaissance of the field after the ‘winter’ of the 1980s has been slow but constant, today there is the need of a different set of rules.

In the Correa et al (2023) paper, the authors state that “a lot of work is taking place to define the values and ideas that should guide AI advances. A key challenge, however, lies in establishing a consensus on these values, given the diverse perspectives of various stakeholders worldwide and the abstraction of normative discourse. Researchers and policy makers need better tools to catalogue and compare AI governance documents from around the world and to identify points of divergence and commonality.”

After reviewing the article and reading how different countries across the world deal with the generative AI revolution, discuss your views on the subject and recommend what you think could be a suitable course of action. You should justify your stance by also reviewing any papers included in this study or other relevant literature (additional links to industry have been provided as ‘Other Resources’ to the module). Your discussion should also highlight the impact your actions would have on applicable legal, social and professional issues. Please note that there is no right or wrong answer here, this exercise is to help you evaluate the legal, social ethical and professional issues that affect computing professionals in industry.

The word count is 1,000 for the reflection piece. You will have to include this in your e-portfolio, but you can submit it to your tutor for formative feedback before Week 12.

In this seminar, we will be focusing on LO3: “evaluate critically existing literature, research design and methodology for the chosen topic”.  One way this is done is by conducting a peer review of existing literature on a particular subject. 

In preparation for this week’s seminar, you will need to source at least 2 papers in a Computing subject of your choice (AI, Cybersecurity, Data Science, or a general interest topic in Computer Science), provided they utilise two different types of research methods to achieve their goal/research aims. Now answer the following questions (please provide justifications for your answers) and be prepared to discuss them in the session: 

• Familiarise yourself with the purpose, problem, objective or research question of each paper. Are they in line with your experience or thoughts on the topic, contributing to the collective body of knowledge in this area?
• Is the research methodology utilised in each paper appropriate for the stated purpose or question? 
• In terms of data collection and analysis, is this also appropriate for the stated purpose or question? (We will discuss this further in upcoming units.)
• Does each paper support its claims and conclusions with explicit arguments or evidence?
• How would you enhance the work/paper?

Please read the case below and answer the questions. You need to determine the ethical issues involved with this case.

The Case

Ricardo works for the records department of his local government as a computer records clerk, where he has access to files of property tax records. For a scientific study, a researcher, Beth, has been granted access to the numerical portion “but not the corresponding names” of some records.

Beth finds some information that she would like to use, but she needs the names and addresses corresponding with certain properties. Beth asks Ricardo to retrieve these names and addresses, so she can contact these people for more information and for permission to do further study.

Now consider, what are the ethical issues involved in deciding which of these options to pursue?

• If Ricardo is not responsible for determining allowable access, should he release the names and addresses?
• Suppose Ricardo were responsible for determining allowable access to the files. What ethical issues would be involved in his deciding whether to grant access to Beth?
• Should Beth be allowed to contact the individuals involved? That is, should the Records department release individuals' names to a researcher? What are the ethical issues for the Records department to consider?
• Suppose Beth contacts the individuals to ask their permission, and one-third of them respond giving permission, one-third respond denying permission, and one-third do not respond. Beth claims that at least one-half of the individuals are needed to make a valid study. What options are available to Beth?

In 2018, Cambridge Analytica was in the news in the United Kingdom and the USA (Confessore, 2018) for obtaining and sharing data obtained from millions of Facebook users. They obtained the data through innocuous surveys on Facebook (you may have seen this type of survey and probably participated at times). This is probably the highest profile of surveys used for alternative means and, probably, monetary gains. However, this happens often through various media.

Consider how exactly this happened and why it was used. Find one or two further examples of inappropriate use of surveys and highlight the impact of all these examples from the various ethical, social, legal and professional standpoints that apply.

Compulsory e-Portfolio Component (Hypothesis Testing and Summary Measures Worksheet): Review the additional notes on Inference and then complete the Hypothesis Testing and Summary Measures worksheet in Excel or LibreOffice. The completed worksheets from units 7 and 8 should be included in your e-Portfolio. You will need to provide your interpretation of the results, based on the questions asked and from your analysis of the data. You can complete the worksheets before or after this week’s workshop.

• View Exercise 6.1
• View Exercise 6.2
• View Exercise 6.3
• View Exercise 7.1
• View Exercise 7.2
• Download Unit 7 & 8 Workbooks

Abi is a researcher at an institute and also a statistical programmer. Abi has received a project from a manufacturer to review the nutritional value of a new cereal, Whizzz. Having collected the necessary data, he now needs to perform the appropriate analyses and print the reports for him to send to the manufacturer. Unfortunately, the data Abi has collected seems to refute the claim that Whizzz is nutritious, and, in fact, they may indicate that Whizzz is harmful.

Abi also realises that some other correlations could be performed that would cast Whizzz in a more favourable light. “After all,” he thinks, “I can use statistics to support either side of any issue.”

Ethical Concerns

• Clearly, if Abi changed data values in this study he would be acting unethically. But is it any more ethical for him to suggest analysing correct data in a way that supports two or more different conclusions?
• Is Abi obligated to present both the positive and the negative analyses?
• Is Abi responsible for the use to which others put his program results?
• If Abi does put forward both sets of results to the manufacturer, he suspects that they will publicise only the positive ones. What other courses of action has he?

You should also highlight legal, social and professional impacts of any choices made. Please note that there are no right or wrong answers here and you may introduce local, as well as international, legislature in your responses.

You should demonstrate that you understand the topic covered and ensure you use references to academic literature (including journals, books, and reports). This activity will provide evidence of your personal growth and your summary post is required in your e-portfolio.

Assignment Brief

The literature review fulfils the learning outcomes where you will critically evaluate existing literature, research design and methodology for your chosen topic and so produce a literature review on this topic.

You will have selected the topic for this task from the list provided in Unit 1. You should refer to the Guide Questions provided in Unit 2 to evaluate and refine your literature review before submission, bearing in mind the key aims of a standalone literature review (with the applicable grading criterion highlighted from the grid on the Module Resources page):

• To provide an overview of current knowledge on the chosen topic. (Knowledge and Understanding weighted at 30%)
• o demonstrate an awareness of relevant, current literature. (Use of Relevant sources weighted at 20%)
• To highlight similar and contrasting views on your chosen topic. (Criticality weighted at 30%)
• To showcase your research and writing skills. (Structure and Presentation weighted at 10%, Academic Integrity weighted at 10%)

A critique of my literature review.

Complete the Charts worksheet in Excel or LibreOffice. The completed worksheets from units 8 and 9 should be included in your e-Portfolio. You will need to include your analysis and provide your interpretation of the results.

• View Exercise 9.1
• View Exercise 9.2
• View Exercise 9.3
• Download Charts Workbooks

The research proposal presentation fulfils the learning outcomes where you will evaluate critically existing literature, research design and methodology for your chosen topic, including data analysis processes and so produce and evaluate critically a research proposal for your chosen topic. This can be based on the literature review topic you chose in Unit 1 or the topic of your capstone project (MSc students).

A critique of my research proposal presentation

Reflections on:

• Your statistical analysis skills;
• The research methods process based on your learning in this module;
• The impact on your personal/professional experience based on your completed professional skills matrix and any associated SWOT Analysis and/or Action Plan.