from research organizations
This article gives an overview of professional ethics as applied to computer programming. From the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (ACM).
- Date:
- October 9, 2018
- Source:
- North Carolina State University
- Summary:
- The world's largest computing society, ACM, updated its code of ethics in July 2018 -- but new research shows that the code of ethics does not appear to affect the decisions made by software developers.
- Share:
The world's largest computing society, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), updated its code of ethics in July 2018 -- but new research from North Carolina State University shows that the code of ethics does not appear to affect the decisions made by software developers.
'We applauded the decision to update the ACM code of ethics, but wanted to know whether it would actually make a difference,' says Emerson Murphy-Hill, co-author of a paper on the work and an adjunct associate professor of computer science at NC State.
'This issue is timely, given the tech-related ethics scandals in the news in recent years, such as when Volkwagen manipulated its technology that monitored vehicle emissions. And developers will continue to face work-related challenges that touch on ethical issues, such as the appropriate use of artificial intelligence.'
For the study, researchers developed 11 written scenarios involving ethical challenges, most of which were drawn from real-life ethical questions posted by users on the website Stack Overflow. The study included 105 U.S. software developers with five or more years of experience and 63 software engineering graduate students at a university. Half of the study participants were shown a copy of the ACM code of ethics, the other half were simply told that ethics are important as part of an introductory overview of the study. All study participants were then asked to read each scenario and state how they would respond to the scenario.
'There was no significant difference in the results -- having people review the code of ethics beforehand did not appear to influence their responses,' Murphy-Hill says.
'While we believe maintaining an up-to-date, robust code of ethics is an admirable thing for ACM to do, we were unable to find any effect of the code of ethics on developer decision making. The question now becomes: What can the computing profession do to promote ethical behavior?'
The paper, 'Does ACM's Code of Ethics Change Ethical Decision Making in Software Development?,' will be presented Nov. 7 at the ACM Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering, being held in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The paper was co-authored by Justin Smith, a Ph.D. student at NC State, and Andrew McNamara, a former graduate student at NC State.
Story Source:
Materials provided by North Carolina State University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Cite This Page:
North Carolina State University. 'Code of ethics doesn't influence decisions of software developers.' ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 October 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181009113617.htm>.
North Carolina State University. (2018, October 9). Code of ethics doesn't influence decisions of software developers. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 13, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181009113617.htm
North Carolina State University. 'Code of ethics doesn't influence decisions of software developers.' ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181009113617.htm (accessed June 13, 2019).
- RELATED TERMS
- Computer software
- List of cognitive biases
- Genetic code
- Bioethics
- Computing power everywhere
- Supercomputer
- Mensa International
- Spyware
Video-Based Ethics Program Increases Moral Awareness, Study Finds
Aug. 13, 2018 -- Ethics Unwrapped, a video-based behavioral ethics curriculum adopted by educational institutions around the world, effectively increases student understanding of ethics and human behavior, according ... read more
Computer Scientists Simplify Parallel Programming
Mar. 12, 2015 -- Modern software takes computational speed for granted. But modern microprocessors can only speed up by increasing the number of cores. To take full advantage of multiple cores, software developers ... read more
U.S. Nursing Leaders Issue Blueprint for 21st Century Nursing Ethics
Nov. 18, 2014 -- An unprecedented report looks at the ethical issues facing the nursing profession, as the American Nursing Association prepares to release a revised Code of Ethics in ... read more
In Wake of Uproar Over Facebook’s Emotional Manipulation Study, Bioethics Scholars Say New Rules Are 'Moral Imperative'
Sep. 15, 2014 -- Using the recent debate over the Facebook-Cornell 'emotional contagion' study as a starting point, an international team of research ethics scholars begin mapping the ethics terrain of ... read more
Below are relevant articles that may interest you. ScienceDaily shares links with scholarly publications in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated.
ACM has updated its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. ACM’s Code of Ethics is considered the standard for the computing profession, and has been adopted by computing professionals, organizations and technology companies around the world.
The Preamble of the Code says:
Computing professionals’ actions change the world. To act responsibly, they should reflect upon the wider impacts of their work, consistently supporting the public good. … The Code is designed to inspire and guide the ethical conduct of all computing professionals, including current and aspiring practitioners, instructors, students, influencers, and anyone who uses computing technology in an impactful way.
The Code is applicable in our daily work lives, and I encourage you to read at least parts of the document – available in PDF at this link. We are also planning to share and review these principles with our student employees.
ACM has also established a Committee of Professional Ethics (COPE). COPE is responsible for promoting ethical conduct among computing professionals by publicizing the Code of Ethics and by offering interpretations of the Code; planning and reviewing activities to educate membership in ethical decision making on issues of professional conduct; and reviewing and recommending updates to the Code of Ethics and its guidelines.
If you are interested, there are several ways to get involved with the Committee on Professional Ethics:
- Join SIGCAS, the ACM SIG most directly involved with the code and with ethics in the profession.
- Submit feedback for the Code 2018 project, updating the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
- Submit suggestions for the Integrity Project, or Ask an Ethicist.
- Attend one of our workshops on teaching computer ethics, commonly held at the SIGCSE and IEEE-ETHICS conferences.
- Or, if you have something else on your mind, Contact Us.
~Laurie Fox, Chair SIGUCCS EC