Delimiting the concept of research: an ethical perspective
Delimiting the concept of research: an ethical perspective
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DOI：
10.1007/s11017-007-9036-y
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发表时间：
2007-06-01
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Heinrichs, Bert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bortolotti, Lisa;Heinrichs, Bert
鉴于我们目前对促进研究作为造福人类的手段和对其进行道德规范的兴趣，能够对哪些活动算作科学研究提供一个解释是很重要的。我们试图提供这样一种解释，认为在我们确定一项活动是否是真正的科学研究实例之前，我们需要考虑它的程序和功能两个维度。通过将研究置于更广泛的活动模式中，研究活动与其他活动之间的异同就变得清晰可见。也更容易说明为什么一些不算作研究的活动有时会与研究混淆，以及为什么其他一些活动只能部分地被视为研究。虽然研究的概念对于划定我们可能在道德上有义务促进的一类活动很重要，但我们注意到，被视为受道德规范约束的一类活动并没有被研究活动所耗尽。我们认为，无论是否为研究，所有可能影响相关个人权益和影响其他个人权益的活动都会引发伦理问题，可能需要伦理监管。
It is important to be able to offer an account of which activities count as scientific research, given our current interest in promoting research as a means to benefit humankind and in ethically regulating it. We attempt to offer such an account, arguing that we need to consider both the procedural and functional dimensions of an activity before we can establish whether it is a genuine instance of scientific research. By placing research in a broader schema of activities, the similarities and differences between research activities and other activities become visible. It is also easier to show why some activities that do not count as research can sometimes be confused with research and why some other activities can be regarded only partially as research. Although the concept of research is important to delimit a class of activities which we might be morally obliged to promote, we observe that the class of activities which are regarded as subject to ethical regulation is not exhausted by research activities. We argue that, whether they be research or not, all the activities that are likely to affect the rights and interests of the individuals involved and impact on the rights and interests of other individuals raise ethical issues and might be in need of ethical regulation.