Ethics

Your job is to do statistical analysis in a drug manufacturing company. The latest “breakthrough” drug that your company has made an extremely large R&D investment in is now in its final phase of clinical trials. You have found that a substantial portion (5%) of the sample (size 10,000), which was carefully chosen to be random and representative of the population, is not showing any improvement in their condition due to the drug, and in fact, there is some evidence that they may be suffering ill effects, though this evidence is not conclusive.,CLICK HERE TO GET MORE.........

When you share this information with your supervisor, she instructs you to disregard this 5% of the sample, calling them “outliers.” You are told to proceed with your analysis, and your positive results for the remaining sample, as if these 500 individuals were not included in the study.

Analysis:
An ethical dilemma is a situation in which there could be more than one “ethical”, “correct” or “desirable” action, depending on how the situation is viewed and which stakeholders are considered. (Stakeholders are individuals or entities who have some kind of stake or interest in the decision, and/or who will be affected by the decision.)
In a company, what could be good for one set of stakeholders (say the employees) could be bad for another set of stakeholders (say the people who own the company stock). For example, a company might be considering laying off workers to raise profits and keep the company viable. Keeping the company viable is a duty the management has to the stockholders, so that is a type of obligation, but the management also has ethical obligations to its workers, who depend on the company for their livelihood.

Assignment:
Step 1) Review the link within the ethics assignment folder forEthical Guidelines for Statistical Practice by the American Statistical Association, paying special attention to section II. ETHICAL GUIDELINES. You are not expected to fully internalize all of the guidelines for professionals, but should be able to identify at least a few points that are relevant to this discussion.

Step 2) Write a 2-page paper discussing the ethical dilemma described in the scenario above, keeping in mind the ethical guidelines you just read. You should include the following points:
1. Identify the possible actions for the ethical decision-maker; that is, what must be decided and by whom?,CLICK HERE TO GET MORE.........
2. Identify all stakeholders and describe how these stakeholders would benefit or be hurt by the possible actions. (Note: there may be more than two stakeholders involved.)
3. Evaluate each of the alternatives identified in (1). That is, describe the possible costs or benefits for each stakeholder under each of these possible actions.
4. Describe what the most ethical course of action is in this situation and justify your response.

Evaluation:Your work will be evaluated based on if and how well you:
• Identifying possible actions (2 points)
• Identify all stakeholders and the effects of the actions on each (3 points)
• Identify pros and cons of each positions for each stakeholder (3 points)
• Identify an “ethical” course of action (2 points)
(See ethical considerations rubric below for detailed evaluation guidelines.)

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