engleski

Research ethics in five scientific fields: An empirical comparison

In this paper, based on an empirical survey carried out among 840 young Croatian researchers, an analysis is made of professional values/norms and practice, as well as ethically problematic conduct, in five scientific fields. Regarding professional standards, the sciences differ among themselves. The most discriminative professional values and norms are those that single out the socio-humanistic disciplines as cognitively soft with low importance given to metric precision, and those that distinguish the biosciences according to the importance given to professional relations toward patients and respondents (biomedicine) and the importance of empirical research, novelty and accessibility (biotechnology). When the professional practice of scientific fields is observed, dimensions are shown that are similar to those revealed for professional standards ; the scientific contexts are differentiated in a similar way, although the concordance is not complete. Ethically deviant and questionable professional practice, generally of rather low incidence, is likewise significantly differentiated with regard to the scientific context. General types of ethically problematic behaviours again relate to the socio-humanistic disciplines and the biosciences. The former disciplines display relatively pronounced particularism (research malpractices), accompanied by a slight tendency of researchers to exploit their professional and physical environment. The biosciences reveal a relatively more frequent exploitation of the social and physical environment and a pronounced socio-intellectual conformism.

research ethics; professional values and norms; professional practice; ethically questionable conduct; scientific fields; natural sciences; technical sciences; medical sciences; biotechnical sciences; social sciences and humanities

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