A Method for Rapid Ethical Deliberation in Research and Innovation Projects
OAI: oai:igi-global.com:281078 • DOI: 10.4018/IJT.2021070106
Published by: IGI Global
Abstract
There are many and diverse methods available that can help researchers, designers, developers, and engineers integrate ethics in their research and innovation projects. In practice, however, they can find this challenging. They may believe that such methods are difficult and time-consuming, or that ethics hinders innovation and creativity. Borrowing from various methods, the authors created a lightweight method that researchers and designers can use to integrate ethics in their projects: rapid ethical deliberation. This research collaborated with four projects to assess this method in practice. The authors found that this method helped project team members in several ways: to envision the innovations they work in very practical terms; to look at these innovation from different normative, ethical perspectives; to look at their projects with fresh eyes and engage in creative and strategic thinking; and to articulate critical questions and associated actions to move their projects forward.