WORKSHOP
January 4, 2011

Research Ethics and Systems Science: Where are We and Where are We Going?

Elizabeth Buchanan, Keith Miller, and Robert Mason

This full day workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of human subjects research regulations with a specific focus on the issues that impact systems sciences researchers directly. We will discuss issues in research administration, such as research integrity, scope and mission of review boards, and best practices for systems researchers in traditional forms of research, and then move into emergent issues of particular concern. These include cloud computing and privacy, confidentiality, ownership, and access issues; bot research; data repositories; shared research spaces; data security; and online research tools, such as survey generators. Each of these emergent forms of and for research raise implications for meeting
human subjects regulations.

This workshop will provide researchers with appropriate tools and strategies to meet the requirements of ethical conduct of research and research integrity responsibilities. Participants will work together to develop specific guidelines or best practices to assist research regulation in and around complex forms of research activities.

Robert Mason ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) was organizer and co-chair of the HICSS 42 minitrack on ethical issues and for minitrack for HICSS 43. His research interests include cultural issues in information science and knowledge management and the ethical dimension of
information systems research and design.

Keith Miller ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) holds the Louise and Karl Schewe Professorship in Liberal Arts and Sciences, and is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He is the Editor of IEEE Technology & Society, Associate Director, Emiquon Field Station.

Elizabeth Buchanan ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is the recipient of two National Science Foundation grants to study IRBs and their reviews of Internet-based research; and has been the chair and/or organizer of many professional conference sessions on Internet research ethics, including OHRP research forums. She is currently Chair, Association of Internet Researchers Ethics Working Group and Co-Director, International Society for Ethics and Information Technology. She is a member of the UWM Working Group on Research Integrity.

Ethics and Internet Research Commons:  Building a sustainable future

DESCRIPTION

This full-day workshop is designed to accomplish three goals:  First, workshop leaders will present case studies to review key ethical challenges and identify important components of ethical decision making.  Second, participants work with workshop leaders in small groups to brainstorm solutions to ethical challenges in their own projects.  Third, members from the AOIR Ethics Committee will present and discuss the newly revised AOIR Ethics Guidelines.

This pre-conference workshop continues AOIR's efforts to build and promote flexible and adaptive learning communities that engage in a dialogic evolution of ethical research practice.  More specifically, this workshop will train individuals to be capable contributors in the Internet Research Ethics Commons, a National Science Foundation (US) sponsored online resource community that provides troubleshooting and advice for researchers who encounter ethical stumbling blocks in their projects. For more information, see internetresearchethics.org

ORGANIZERS 

• Elizabeth Buchanan, Ph.D.
• Charles Ess, Ph.D.
• Annette Markham, Ph.D.

FEES & LOGISTICS

• Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010
• Time: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Location: Chalmers student union building, room TBA.

• Sponsored program, no cost to AOIR or attendees.
• Attendance: minimum 10, maximum 40
• Lunch and coffee included.

SUBMISSION & PARTICIPATION

There is no fee, as this is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, project number 0924604. To register, please email Project Assistant This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Submissions should include a brief description of the individual's research, its methodologies, and its specific ethical issues. Each participant will work in small groups with an IRE Commons leader to resolve pressing ethical dilemmas facing the researcher.

Preference will be given to those that submit their materials by 30 August 2010.

CONTACT

Elizabeth Buchanan, Director, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 414.229.3973.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it