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Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

  • 1.  Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-15-2016 10:52

    Dear Colleagues,

     

    Can anyone supply a useful reference that deals with "Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis"?  I am preparing a presentation on the topic and would focus on safeguarding confidentiality as well as the importance of data auditing, data screening, preliminary graphical and tabular analysis  as part of the data management and  analysis process.   Does anyone have any other suggestions regarding what else could be covered?

     

    Regards

     

    Novie

     

     

    ************************************************

    Novie Younger-Coleman PhD

    Statistician/Senior Lecturer

    Tropical Medicine Research Institute

    University of the West Indies

    Kingston 7

    Jamaica

    Tel: 876 977 0746 or 927 2471 ext 227

    Fax: 876 927 2984

    e-mail: novie.younger@uwimona.edu.jm

    ********************************************************************************************

    JAMAICA STATISTICS SYMPOSIUM (JASSYM) 2015, OCTOBER 28-30, 

    THEME: STATISTICS IN SUPPORT OF POLICY          

    *********************************************************************************************

    Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/JamStatSymp

     

     

     



  • 2.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-15-2016 17:46
    Berrnard Harcourt published a journal article on the dilemma faced by
    an ethnographer when he observes one of his research subjects (a
    police officer) abusing a third party (a civilian who was being
    searched). David Greenberg, Sociology Department, NYU

    ------Original Message------

    Dear Colleagues,

     

    Can anyone supply a useful reference that deals with "Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis"?  I am preparing a presentation on the topic and would focus on safeguarding confidentiality as well as the importance of data auditing, data screening, preliminary graphical and tabular analysis  as part of the data management and  analysis process.   Does anyone have any other suggestions regarding what else could be covered?

     

    Regards

     

    Novie

     

     

    ************************************************

    Novie Younger-Coleman PhD

    Statistician/Senior Lecturer

    Tropical Medicine Research Institute

    University of the West Indies

    Kingston 7

    Jamaica

    Tel: 876 977 0746 or 927 2471 ext 227

    Fax: 876 927 2984

    e-mail: novie.younger@uwimona.edu.jm

    ********************************************************************************************

    JAMAICA STATISTICS SYMPOSIUM (JASSYM) 2015, OCTOBER 28-30, 

    THEME: STATISTICS IN SUPPORT OF POLICY          

    *********************************************************************************************

    Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/JamStatSymp

     

     

     



  • 3.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-15-2016 18:13

    You should look at the Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice at the ASA website:

    --> Ethical Guidelines

    Amstat remove preview
    Ethical Guidelines
    Prepared by the Committee on Professional Ethics Approved by the Board of Directors, August 7, 1999 This document contains two parts: I. Preamble and II. Ethical Guidelines. The Preamble addresses A. Purpose of the Guidelines, B. Statistics and Society, and C. Shared Values.
    View this on Amstat >

    It points out, among other things, that your consulting compensation should not be inversely proportional to the size of the p-value that you can produce. <grin>

    ------------------------------
    Stephen Simon, blog.pmean.com
    Independent Statistical Consultant
    P. Mean Consulting



  • 4.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-15-2016 18:35

    Novie, Do you mean ethics for the analyst or the subjects whose data is being analyzed?

    Note that in Pharma, we're well aware of different restrictions on handling of data from patients in clinical trials in Europe vs U.S. vs ROW (rest of world)

    There is an ethics group in Europe Ethics Advisory Group

     https://secure.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/edps/EDPS/Ethics

    excerpting "...The overall objective of the Advisory Group is to explore the relationships between human rights, technology, markets and business models in the 21st century from an ethical perspective, with particular attention to the implications for the rights to privacy and data protection in the digital environment. ..." 

    A google search turns up a paper about ethics by Gelman 

    http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/research/published/ChanceEthics1.pdf

     And in case  it may be useful to you, there is an excellent paper by Paul Meier "Damned Liars and Expert Witnesses" in JASA that is worth reading. 

    Damned Liars and Expert Witnesses

    and a paper by Altman http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1714517/   

    there are other papers you can find on a google search

    ------------------------------
    Chris Barker, Ph.D.
    Consultant and
    Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics


    ---
    "In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds."
    -Steve Lacy

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-15-2016 18:38

    Thanks, Chris.

    I was thinking of ethics for the analyst.

     

    Novie



    ------Original Message------

    Novie, Do you mean ethics for the analyst or the subjects whose data is being analyzed?

    Note that in Pharma, we're well aware of different restrictions on handling of data from patients in clinical trials in Europe vs U.S. vs ROW (rest of world)

    There is an ethics group in Europe Ethics Advisory Group

     https://secure.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/edps/EDPS/Ethics

    excerpting "...The overall objective of the Advisory Group is to explore the relationships between human rights, technology, markets and business models in the 21st century from an ethical perspective, with particular attention to the implications for the rights to privacy and data protection in the digital environment. ..." 

    A google search turns up a paper about ethics by Gelman 

    http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/research/published/ChanceEthics1.pdf

     And in case  it may be useful to you, there is an excellent paper by Paul Meier "Damned Liars and Expert Witnesses" in JASA that is worth reading. 

    Damned Liars and Expert Witnesses

    and a paper by Altman http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1714517/   

    there are other papers you can find on a google search

    ------------------------------
    Chris Barker, Ph.D.
    Consultant and
    Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics


    ---
    "In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds."
    -Steve Lacy
    ------------------------------


  • 6.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-15-2016 18:53
    Hi, Novie.

    A few thoughts about topics you might consider including, with an emphasis on social/behavioral sciences: First, coinciding approximately with the "replication crisis" in psychology and apparently increasing attention to reproducibility in science more broadly, several authors have published work on ethically dubious data-analysis practices; here are DOI names of examples:

    * p-hacking

    doi: 10.1037/a0033242
    doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002106

    * HARKing

    doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr0203_4
    doi: 10.1111/iops.12049

    * researcher degrees of freedom

    doi: 10.1177/0956797611417632
    doi: 10.1007/s11336-015-9445-1


    Second, you might find valuable material in this handbook:

        Panter, A. T., & Sterba, S. K. (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of ethics in quantitative methodology. New York: Routledge.

    https://books.google.com/books?id=6P3FBQAAQBAJ&dq=panter+sterba+ethics&source=gbs_navlinks_s


    Cheers,

    Adam
    ____________________________________
    Adam R. Hafdahl, PhD
    Owner & Principal Consultant
    ARCH Statistical Consulting, LLC
    www.sunflower.com/~arch-stat-consult


    ------Original Message------

    Thanks, Chris.

    I was thinking of ethics for the analyst.

     

    Novie





  • 7.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-16-2016 08:40

    DeCoster, J., Sparks, E. A., Sparks, J. C., Sparks, G. G., & Sparks, C. W. (2015). Opportunistic biases: Their origins, effects, and an integrated solution. American Psychologist, 70(6), 499-514. doi:10.1037/a0039191

    Parker, R. A., & Berman, N. G. (1998). Criteria for authorship for statisticians in medical papers. Statistics in Medicine, 17(20), 2289-2299. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0258(19981030)17:203.0.CO;2-L

    Vardeman, S. B., & Morris, M. D. (2003). Statistics and ethics: Some advice for young statisticians. The American Statistician, 57(1), 21-26. doi:10.1198/0003130031072

    American Statistical Association Committee on Professional Ethics. (1999). Ethical guidelines for statistical practice. Retrieved from http://www.amstat.org/about/ethicalguidelines.cfm

     ------------------------------
    Steven Pierce
    Associate Director
    Center for Statistical Training and Consulting, Michigan State University



  • 8.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-17-2016 09:44

    Here are two more:

     

    Resnik, D. B. (2005). The ethics of science, an introduction. Routledge, New York. ISBN 0-203-97906-0 Master e-book ISBN.

    http://sharifphilosophy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The_Ethics_of_Science.pdf

     

    Shamoo, A. E., & Resnik, D. B. (2003). Responsible conduct of research. Oxford University Press, New York.

     

    Sarah L. Hession, PhD

    Assistant Director, Senior Statistician

    Center for Statistical Training & Consulting (CSTAT)

    Michigan State University

     

    sarah.hession@cstat.msu.edu

    www.cstat.msu.edu

     

     

     



    ------Original Message------

    DeCoster, J., Sparks, E. A., Sparks, J. C., Sparks, G. G., & Sparks, C. W. (2015). Opportunistic biases: Their origins, effects, and an integrated solution. American Psychologist, 70(6), 499-514. doi:10.1037/a0039191

    Parker, R. A., & Berman, N. G. (1998). Criteria for authorship for statisticians in medical papers. Statistics in Medicine, 17(20), 2289-2299. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0258(19981030)17:203.0.CO;2-L

    Vardeman, S. B., & Morris, M. D. (2003). Statistics and ethics: Some advice for young statisticians. The American Statistician, 57(1), 21-26. doi:10.1198/0003130031072

    American Statistical Association Committee on Professional Ethics. (1999). Ethical guidelines for statistical practice. Retrieved from http://www.amstat.org/about/ethicalguidelines.cfm

     ------------------------------
    Steven Pierce
    Associate Director
    Center for Statistical Training and Consulting, Michigan State University
    ------------------------------


  • 9.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-17-2016 15:52
    The 1999 version of the American Statistical Association's (ASA) Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice, cited in this thread, has recently been revised and updated.  The current version, approved this Spring by the ASA Board of Directors, can be downloaded via a link from http://community.amstat.org/ethics/home.
     
    Peter B. Imrey, Ph.D.
    Professor of Medicine
    Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University
    Staff, Dept. of Quantitative Health Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic
     

    ===================================

    Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

    Cleveland Clinic is ranked as one of the top hospitals in America by U.S.News & World Report (2015). Visit us online at http://www.clevelandclinic.org for a complete listing of our services, staff and locations. Confidentiality Note: This message is intended for use only by the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy the material in its entirety, whether electronic or hard copy. Thank you.



    ------Original Message------

    Here are two more:

     

    Resnik, D. B. (2005). The ethics of science, an introduction. Routledge, New York. ISBN 0-203-97906-0 Master e-book ISBN.

    http://sharifphilosophy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The_Ethics_of_Science.pdf

     

    Shamoo, A. E., & Resnik, D. B. (2003). Responsible conduct of research. Oxford University Press, New York.

     

    Sarah L. Hession, PhD

    Assistant Director, Senior Statistician

    Center for Statistical Training & Consulting (CSTAT)

    Michigan State University

     

    sarah.hession@cstat.msu.edu

    www.cstat.msu.edu

     

     

     



  • 10.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-17-2016 22:17
    Thanks for your note, Peter. The link that you gave for the updated ethics document led to an error page (in two browsers). I googled and searched a bit, but all that came up was the 1999 version. Do you have a better link or can you attach a pdf file?

    Thanks,

    Nayak


    Nayak L Polissar, PhD
    The Mountain-Whisper-Light Statistics
    1827 23rd Ave. East
    Seattle, WA 98112
    Tel. 206-329-9325
    Fax 206-324-5915
    polissar@u.washington.edu (for university affairs only) 






    ------Original Message------

    The 1999 version of the American Statistical Association's (ASA) Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice, cited in this thread, has recently been revised and updated.  The current version, approved this Spring by the ASA Board of Directors, can be downloaded via a link from http://community.amstat.org/ethics/home.

    Peter B. Imrey, Ph.D.
    Professor of Medicine
    Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University
    Staff, Dept. of Quantitative Health Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic

    ===================================

    Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

    Cleveland Clinic is ranked as one of the top hospitals in America by U.S.News & World Report (2015). Visit us online at http://www.clevelandclinic.org for a complete listing of our services, staff and locations. Confidentiality Note: This message is intended for use only by the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy the material in its entirety, whether electronic or hard copy. Thank you.





  • 11.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-17-2016 22:55
    Hi Nayak,

    You're the second person who's written me that, 
    but I don't know why since it works perfectly 
    from my browser.  I'll gladly send you the pdf
    directly tomorrow when I'm back on a computer.

    Best,
    Peter

    Sent from my mobile device


    ------Original Message------

    Thanks for your note, Peter. The link that you gave for the updated ethics document led to an error page (in two browsers). I googled and searched a bit, but all that came up was the 1999 version. Do you have a better link or can you attach a pdf file?

    Thanks,

    Nayak


    Nayak L Polissar, PhD
    The Mountain-Whisper-Light Statistics
    1827 23rd Ave. East
    Seattle, WA 98112
    Tel. 206-329-9325
    Fax 206-324-5915
    polissar@u.washington.edu (for university affairs only) 








  • 12.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-17-2016 23:52

    I found it, but you have to dig around a bit to find the most recent report. A simple search on the ASA website didn't work for me. Go to the ASA website (www.amstat.org) and click on the Committees link near the top of the page. Then click on the ASA Committee List on the left hand side. The Committee on Professional Ethics is about halfway down, under the subheading Professional Issues and Visibility Council. When you click on this link, it looks like you reached a dead end, but there is one more choice: Visit the Committee on Professional Ethics home page. You may think that you're already on their home page, but you're not. When you click to the home page of the committee, hooray! You found the link you're looking for: Revised Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice (2016-03-11). It's a Word document which is probably why it is not found easily by the search engine at the ASA website. The URL might or might not work, but for the record, it is a very ugly looking URL.

    https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AMSTAT/6329088d-be23-4b8e-a764-eddc3d660410/UploadedFiles/F9or22mnRR67k09ULRdQ_ASA%20Ethical%20Guidelines%20%20Final%20Revision%2011%20March%202016.docx

    The committee home page link is a bit easier to follow:

    http://community.amstat.org/ethics/home

    If I had an infinite amount of free time, I'd advise the ASA and the committee on how to set up an easier to follow website, but I don't so I won't.

    ------------------------------
    Stephen Simon, blog.pmean.com
    Independent Statistical Consultant
    P. Mean Consulting

    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Ethical Considerations for Data Analysis

    Posted 06-16-2016 11:04

    One item that occurs to me revolves around the need for certainty in measurement, AKA validity and reliability, when the outcome of the research and analysis might have consequences for individuals.

    ------------------------------
    David Mangen