Codes of Ethics: Extending Classification Techniques with Natural Language Processing

Language is an indicator of how stakeholders view an ethics code’s intent, and key to distinguishing code properties, such as promoting ethical-valued decision-making or code-based compliance. This article quantifies ethics codes’ language using Natural Language Processing (NLP), then uses machine learning to classify ethics codes. NLP overcomes some inherent difficulties of “measuring” verbal documents. Ethics codes selected from lists of “best” companies were compared with codes from a sample of Fortune 500 companies. Results show that some of these ethics codes are different enough from the norm to be distinguished by an algorithm; indicating as well that lists of “best” companies differ meaningfully from each other. Results suggest that NLP models hold promise as measurement tools for text research of corporate documents, with the potential to contribute to our understanding of the impact of language on corporate culture and enhance our understanding of relationships with corporate performance.

On the (Mis)Use of Deception in Web-Based Research

The deception of research participants remains a controversial issue in the behavioral sciences. Current ethics codes consistently limit the use of deception to cases in which non-deceptive alternatives are unfeasible and, crucially, require that participants subjected to deception be debriefed correspondingly along with an option to withdraw their data after learning about the deception. These conditions pose a particular challenge in the context of web-based research because participants can typically discontinue a study unilaterally (i.e., dropout by simply closing the browser window) in which case full debriefing and an option to withdraw one’s data are no longer available. As a consequence, the study would no longer be compatible with ethical standards. Based on recent meta-analytical data, we provide an existence proof of this problem, showing that deception is used in web-based research with little to no indication of safeguards ensuring full debriefing and subsequent data withdrawal options. We close by revisiting recommendations for the (non-)use of deception in web-based research and offer solutions to implement such safeguards in case deception is truly unavoidable.

ETHICAL CODES OF CONDUCT FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY ENTITIES: THE LEGAL ASPECT

Background.The use of IT tools in the business sphere requires special legal regulation, given the excellent mechanism of consolidation from areas where the figure is not yet used or its use is quite limited. An important tool of regulatory self-regulation are codes of ethics in the digital economy, which only take into account certain features of digital transformations and are a universal trend of modern development of legal regulation of the economy in Ukraine and the world. Analysis of recent research and publications. The analysis of types, the content of ethical codes in the field of digital economy is not paid enough attention, which actualizes the purpose of this scientific article. The aim of the study is to determine the features of codes of ethics in the digital economy. Materials and methods. During the study, both general scientific and special methods of cognition were used: dialectical, systemic, synergetic, formal-logical, generalization, functional, comparative jurisprudence. The information base of the study was national legislation, EU directives, works of domestic and foreign scientists, codes of conduct of international IT companies. Results. The following types of codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) depending on the subject, the subjects of their development and adoption in the digital economy are identified: codes of ethics in a particular area of the digital economy; codes of ethics of a separate professional community; codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) of an individual business entity. Codes of ethics in a particular area of the digital economy are a collection of rules and standards of conduct developed by a community, an association of different professions, in order to develop common principles and policies in a particular market. Codes of ethics of a particular professional community are a collection of rules and standards of conduct that are developed by a particular community on a professional basis and that operate in the digital economy. Codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) of an individual business entity are internal organizational documents of a specific business entity, an element of its foreign and domestic policy, which sets out the rules of activity for the company’s citizens, limits of liability, etc. Conclusion. It has been established that the digital economy is primarily an area that has emerged through self-regulation, so the development of regulationin the digital economy should be linked to the ethics of using the tools of digital transformation. It has been found that the self-regulation of the digital economy takes into account the flexibility of various tools, including codes of ethics. It is established that the structure and content of codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) of each company is different. The content of such codes usually includes global trends of modern business requirements: sustainable development policy, respect for human rights, corporate social responsibility, compliance with anti-corruption, tax laws, etc., and special, which reflect the individual obligations of a particular company. Keywords: digital economy, code of ethics, code of professional ethics, business entity, sustainable development, business and human rights, corporate social responsibility, artificial intelligence.

‘Respect’ and ‘justice’ for whom? Culturally irresponsive ethical practices with refugee communities

This article explores how two common social work ethical principles, respect for persons and justice, are understood by refugee young people aged 18–30 years old in Kenya. Through 31 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with refugee young people who had previously participated in academic and/or organization-based qualitative research, this article explores how this group conceptualizes research ethics. The analysis suggests that refugee young people in Kenya did not necessarily feel that researchers were respectful. As such, the article claims that researchers must reconsider how Eurocentric social work and research ethics codes are understood globally.