The ASA Committee on Professional Ethics seeks input on the Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice, which are permanently linked here:
http://www.amstat.org/ASA/Your-Career/Ethical-Guidelines-for-Statistical-Practice.aspx
If you would like to contribute a recommendation for revision to the Guidelines, or for a comment for the linked discussion, we have created discussion threads for each of the Guidelines' individual principles. Please comment on the principle(s) most directly related to your suggestion(s).
Your suggestions should be as specific and complete as possible so that the Committee or its designated Working Group can review and consider your suggestions and input. All suggestions received through these discussion threads will be considered by the Committee.
The ethical statistician protects and respects the rights and interests of human and animal subjects at all stages of their involvement in a project. This includes respondents to the census or to surveys, those whose data are contained in administrative records, and subjects of physically or psychologically invasive research.
The ethical statistician:
- Keeps informed about and adheres to applicable rules, approvals, and guidelines for the protection and welfare of human and animal subjects.
- Strives to avoid the use of excessive or inadequate numbers of research subjects, and excessive risk to research subjects (in terms of health, welfare, privacy, and ownership of their own data), by making informed recommendations for study size.
- Protects the privacy and confidentiality of research subjects and data concerning them, whether obtained from the subjects directly, other persons, or existing records. Anticipates and solicits approval for secondary and indirect uses of the data, including linkage to other data sets, when obtaining approvals from research subjects, and obtains approvals appropriate to allow for peer review and independent replication of analyses.
- Knows the legal limitations on privacy and confidentiality assurances and does not over-promise or assume legal privacy and confidentiality protections where they may not apply.
- Considers whether appropriate research-subject approvals were obtained before participating in a study involving human beings or organizations, before analyzing data from such a study,and while reviewing manuscripts for publication or internal use.The statistician considers the treatment of research subjects (e.g., confidentiality agreements, expectations of privacy, notification, consent, etc.) when evaluating the appropriateness of the data source(s).
- In contemplating whether to participate in an analysis of data from a particular source, refuses to do so if participating in the analysis could reasonably be interpreted by individuals who provided information as sanctioning a violation of their rights.
- Recognizes that any statistical descriptions of groups may carry risks of stereotypes and stigmatization. Statisticians should contemplate, and be sensitive to, the manner in which information is framed so as to avoid disproportionate harms to vulnerable groups.