Deception in Psychological Research Ethics Pilivian and Pilivian study conducted to examine some of the factors leading to "bystander apathy" (the failure of witnesses to help others distress). They hypothesized that whether a bystander will offer direct help is determined by how costly (dangerous) the bystander believes the situation to be. To test Piliavin and Piliavin's theory of bystander intervention, the behavior on passengers was observed when an experimenter, posing as a "victim" with a cane, "collapsed" in a moving subway car. The question asked is whether deception was necessary to obtain data, and whether the data had any relevance to the world around it.
Using Company Resources. XYZ Corporation permits its employees to borrow company tools. Engineer Al House took full advantage of this privilege. He went one step further and ordered tools for his unit that would be useful for his home building projects even though they were of no significant use to his unit at XYZ.
Relevant Literature on this Topic
John M. Staudenmeier, sj, The Politics and Ethics of Engineering (in press with pilot-project version for use in NSF-supported Greenfield Coalition ethics component at Focus: Hope, Detroit, MI). Other keywords for this: ethics and prudence; self-deception; moral ambiguity; pedagogy and the use of cases in teaching; incompetent superiors; professional responsibility; consulting relationships; professional societies; ethics support; workplace relationships; communication; research and cultural diversity; research misconduct; whistleblowing; research integrity; correcting errors in databases.
John M. Staudenmeier, sj, "Science and Technology: Who Gets a Say?" in Martin Bakker and Peter Kroes eds, Technological Development and Science in the Industrial Age: New Perspectives on the Science-Technology Relationship (Boston, Kluwer 1992): 205-230. Other keywords for this: moral ambiguity; professional responsibility; professional societies; research and cultural diversity.