Life Stories of Moral Exemplars in Computing: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

有一些著名的案例表明，个人在计算机领域的道德决策非常重要，但关于个人计算机专业人员如何做出道德决策的系统研究很少。关于计算中的组织问题的文献集中在诸如地位、权力和组织要求等变量上。它让我们把重点放在情景参数上。这一重要视角忽略或低估了个体决策者在这一过程中的影响力。这项研究探索了英国和斯堪的纳维亚两种文化中计算道德榜样的生活故事。这两种文化是一个有趣的对比，因为这两个相关国家在计算机研究和设计方面投入了大量资金，但它们在对待工作场所价值观的方法上存在显著差异。这项基于案例的研究基于深入的访谈和问卷调查，考察了计算机中特定的道德榜样是如何随着时间的推移在道德推理和行为中发展起来的。这项研究将在调查者居住在英国莱斯特德蒙福特大学的计算与社会责任中心(CCSR)时进行。一个由计算伦理学专家组成的小组提炼了在英国和斯堪的纳维亚文化中选择计算道德典范的标准，然后帮助开发出这些道德典范的滚雪球样本。一旦被选中，道德模范就被要求参加一种名为“生活故事访谈”的形式的采访，在这种形式下，受访者被要求讲述他们生活中重要事件的叙述(例如，巅峰经历、低谷经历、转折点)。访谈被转录和编码，以确定重要的发展里程碑和影响。这项研究通过将道德心理学的发展工作与计算机专业人员对道德价值观和行为的关注相结合，开辟了新的天地。它将对研究道德推理和行为的心理学家以及计算机伦理学的跨学科领域感兴趣。社会信息学相关领域的学者也会感兴趣。最后，这项探索性研究将为继续研究计算机专业人员的道德发展奠定良好的基础。关于计算机伦理学的教学已经花费了很多努力，我们有各种课程作为教学计算机伦理学的指导方针。如果我们知道是什么真正激励计算机专业人员成为道德的，这很可能改变我们教计算机的内容(或方式

There are celebrated cases where individual moral decision making in computing has mattered greatly, but there is little systematic work on how moral decisions are made by individual computer professionals. The literature on organizational issues in computing has focused on variables such as status, power, and organizational imperatives. It leads us to focus on situational parameters. This important perspective ignores or underestimates the influence of the individual decision maker in the process. This study explores the life stories of moral exemplars in computing in two cultures, those of Britain and Scandinavia. These two cultures are an interesting contrast because the associated countries have been heavily involved in computing research and design, but their national cultures differ markedly in their approach to workplace values. This case-based study, based on in-depth interviews and questionnaires, examines how particular moral exemplars in computing develop over time in their moral reasoning and action.This study will be done while the investigator is in residence at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR) at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. A panel of experts in computing ethics refines criteria for selecting moral exemplars in computing in British and Scandinavian cultures, and then helps develop a snowball sample of those moral exemplars. Once selected, the moral exemplars are asked to participate in interviews using a format called the "Life Story Interview" in which interviewees are asked to relate narratives of important episodes in their life (e.g. a peak experience, a nadir experience, a turning point). The interviews are transcribed and coded to identify important developmental milestones and influences.This research breaks new ground by combining developmental work in moral psychology with concern for moral values and behavior on the part of computer professionals. It will be of interest to psychologists studying moral reasoning and action and to the interdisciplinary field of computer ethics. Scholars in the related field of social informatics will also be interested. Finally, this exploratory research will provide an excellent foundation for a continuing research program in the moral development of computer professionals. Much effort has been expended in talking about teaching computer ethics and we have various curricula as guidelines for teaching computer ethics. If we knew something about what actually motivates computer professionals to be ethical, it might well change what (or how) we teach computer