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却很少。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。它引导我们关注情境参数。这种重要的观点忽视或低估了个别决策者在决策过程中的影响。本研究探讨了英国和斯堪的纳维亚两种文化中计算机道德模范的生活故事。这两种文化是一个有趣的对比，因为相关国家都大量参与计算机研究和设计，但他们的民族文化在对待工作场所价值观的方式上存在显著差异。这个基于案例的研究，基于深入的访谈和问卷调查，研究了计算机领域的特定道德榜样如何随着时间的推移在他们的道德推理和行动中发展。本研究将在研究者居住在英国莱斯特德蒙福特大学计算与社会责任中心（CCSR）期间进行。一个计算机伦理专家小组提炼了英国和斯堪的纳维亚文化中计算机道德典范的选择标准，然后帮助开发这些道德典范的滚雪球样本。一旦被选中，道德模范就会被要求参加一种名为“生活故事访谈”的访谈形式，在这种访谈中，受访者被要求讲述他们生活中重要事件的故事（例如，高峰经历、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结合起来，开辟了新的领域。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将会对此感兴趣。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计算机专业人员道德发展的持续研究计划提供良好的基础。关于计算机伦理学的教学，我们已经花了很多的精力，我们有各种各样的课程作为计算机伦理学的教学指南。如果我们知道是什么真正激励计算机专业人员保持道德，它可能会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