Table 5 List of domains and standards and consensus reached during rounds 6a and 6b
From: Standards of practice in empirical bioethics research: towards a consensus
Domain | Round 6a standards | % (N = 16) | Round 6b standards | % (N = 16) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aims | 1. Empirical bioethics research should address a normative issue that is oriented towards practice | 94 (15/16) | ||
Aims | 2. Empirical Bioethics research should integrate empirical methods with ethical arguments in order to address this normative issue | 81 (13/16) | ||
Questions | 3. Empirical bioethics researchers ought to be explicit about how the research question(s) asked address the normative issue identified in the aims | 88 (14/16) | ||
Integration | 4. The theoretical position on integration (i.e. the theoretical views on how the empirical and the normative are related) should be made clear and explicit | 94 (15/16) | ||
Integration | 5. The method of integration should be explained and justified, including details of what is integrated with what, how and by whom. | 94 (15/16) | ||
Integration | 6. There should be transparency, consistency and rigour in the execution and reporting of the integrating analysis | 100 (16/16) | ||
Conduct of empirical work | 7. Empirical bioethics research ought to attend to the rigorous implementation of empirical methods, and import accepted standards of conduct from appropriate research paradigms | 94 (15/16) | ||
Conduct of empirical work | 8. Empirical bioethics research should, if and where necessary, develop and amend empirical methods to facilitate collection of the data required to meet the aims of the research; but deviation from accepted disciplinary standards and practices ought to be acknowledged and justified | 94 (15/16) | ||
Conduct of empirical work | 9. Empirical bioethics research should reflect on and justify the appropriateness and fit of the chosen empirical methods in relation to (a) the normative aims and (b) the stated approach to integration | 100 (16/16) | ||
Conduct of empirical work | 10. Empirical bioethics research should consider and reflect on the implicit ethical and epistemological assumptions of the chosen empirical method | 94 (15/16) | ||
Conduct of normative work | 11. In empirical bioethics research there should be thorough delineation of the ethical issue(s), paying attention to, and locating them within, the relevant disciplinary literature | 94 (15/16) | ||
Conduct of normative work | 12. In empirical bioethics research there should be an explicit and robust ethical argument, where argument is understood as an explicit attempt to convince X to adopt position Y with the use of reasons | 75 (12/16) | In empirical bioethics research there should be explicit and robust normative analysis. ‘Normative analysis’ includes attempts to justify position X to person Y with the use of ethical reasoning, providing suggestion for improvement to position X based on ethical reasoning, or attempts to break down and make explicit a complex normative issue in order to gain a better understanding of it | 81 (13/16) |
Training and expertise | 13. The empirical bioethics researcher, or the research team as a whole, should possess competence in ethical inquiry, empirical inquiry and methods of integration | 100 (16/16) | ||
Training and expertise | 14. The empirical bioethics researcher(s) should have at least a basic knowledge of bioethics, and an understanding of whatever aspects of other disciplines or fields that are engaged with | 88 (14/16) | ||
Training and expertise | 15. Provision should be made for ensuring that any team members can acquire or enhance competence in empirical bioethics research | 94 (15/16) |