Ethics is a big part of life, not only in the workplace and in school, but it is somewhat of a factor in almost every single situation that a person deals with. Ethics, or as the book put it, “doing the right thing,” is something that is engrained in a person when they are a child by their parents and their surroundings. Long story short, a person’s ethics is basically what they think is right or wrong. For example, is it right to cheat off of another person’s test paper or is it right to look away and not cheat? Most people will react different in that situation, but the way that they react will directly be associated with that specific person’s ethics.
The worst part of ethics is an ethical dilemma. I know that several times throughout the instructions project I was hit with an ethical dilemma. One I specifically remember was when I was making my expert instructions, I could either skip a bunch of information about Live game play to get my project done faster or I could have included all of the necessary information to make it that much better. My dilemma was either to finish it as quick as possible so I do not have to worry about it, or to do my best work and put a lot more time into it. Because of my ethics, I chose the latter one because I knew it was the better choice for me and my reader, but if I chose the first one I had a chance of ruining my reputation and possibly my grade.
There are many possible examples of good and bad ethics for this white paper project also. A good example of a person’s ethics in this project will have to do with the research. Many college aged students absolutely hate to do research, no matter what the subject is about. There will probably be some people who will think about making up information from a source and citing it in their paper, even though it is a totally made up statement. Making the decision between the two choices on whether to cheat or not is the exact point where a person’s ethics really comes into play.
Researching Isn't So Bad
Although many of us hate to do research, I think we actually catch a pretty decent break when it comes to projects that aren't ridiculously long. What could be better than rewording somebody else's work, citing it, and then using it in your own paper? Not doing it at all, I supposed, but I kind of like it because most of my college career has been spent solving problems. Finding information is like a break from the usual. If all I have to do to keep things legal is to cite a source, then I can't really complain. Even though it takes a little extra work, it's definitely better than getting caught plagiarizing. The original authors do all the thinking for us anyway, so we at least owe them a citation.
I see your point...
I most definitely agree with the fact that doing research is kind of refreshing because it gives a break from constantly solving problems, because I too have also spent most of my college career solving problems and doing mathematical work, but I feel like I dread to do research projects because I hate the fact that I don’t readily know any of the information and have to look it up. Once I get the ball rolling with research it comes pretty quick. Citing the actual information is also easy; it’s just finding the right information to cite that is the struggle. I must admit though, it is nice just to be able to copy down exactly what the author says and throw in a citation, rather than writing it yourself.
Cheating?
I liked your comment about using someone else’s work and being sure to give credit to them. It reminds of freshman year engineering doing all those ENGR 106 codes and problems. I remember there were so many times that I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do. If there was a section of the problem or code that I could not figure out, I would use part of a friends code and write is big letter than this was the property of so and so and that it was in no way mine. This way the worst they could give me was a zero on the homework, I made sure to say that I was not claiming it as my own work. Funny thing is they never mentioned it. Some people would still call this cheating, but I like to look at it as a real life situation.
Researching is a break
I have to agree with jrdavies. In my major I commonly have projects that can take me a month or more to do and sometimes I can spend hours working on a project without getting very much done. But with a research paper, I know that as long as I work on it, it will get done sooner or later. Finding information online is a like you said a nice break from constantly trying to solve a problem on our on. So taking the time to properly cite our sources and give proper credit to the original author seems like a small price to pay for this little break from constantly trying to solve problems.
Patrick Griffin
pgriffin@purdue.edu
Researching
The ethical dilemma gets us all at some point in our lives and their is little we can do to make it easier on ourselves. One of the things I always think of when faced with such a dilemma is to ask how can I make a decision so the outcome will negatively effect the least amount of people. It is the similar situation of being caught in between a rock and a hard place.
In terms of the white paper project, I agree with the first poster that you would have to be stupid to just make something up or copy something without citing it. Research, especially in the topics we have chosen should be relatively easy to perform.
Outside the Box
I would have to say that it is almost impossible for a person to never once get in an ethical dilemma in their life. The hardest part for me when I am faced with an ethical dilemma is to see all of the different options. Sometimes people are in an ethical dilemma because they are missing the obvious choice that is best for everybody. When I am faced with an ethical dilemma I always try to think outside the box to see if there is an answer that is missing that will solve the problem and still please all of the members in the group. Although there is not always an answer like that and you will have to choose the best alternative option.
Should I look or not?
I am intrigued by the question of cheating on a test being ethical or not. I have had classes where the teacher has encouraged students to help each other by optimizing resources, just as long that the students learns the material. Is this ethical? Like you are saying in your reading response, it is up to what the person thinks. Ethics come from a person’s morals. Everyone has a different opinion if cheating is wrong or right. It is up to the person who is cheating and the person who has enforced the rule it is ok to cheat or not.
Zebulon Rouse
Cheating can be ethical?!
There is definitely a difference between cheating and optimizing resources by sharing information with other students because the teacher allows it.
If looking at a peer's paper is against the rules then doing so would be cheating, giving you an unfair advantage over others taking the test, putting that person at risk of getting in trouble for academic dishonesty (possibly without his or her knowing), and also adding an element of fraud into your test score, final grade and thus your degree (because you are claiming to know something - a qualification - when you don't know it).
When you have permission to share information or look at a peer's paper from the instructor, then everyone has that same tool rightfully available, and there is no unfair advantage or element of fraud. But this isn't cheating, because you are allowed to do it.
I will never accept any argument that cheating is somehow a gray area in ethics. I think the true difference in opinions on cheating is whether it's really that big of a deal, not whether or not it's wrong.
State of Mind
Doing right or wrong, good or bad is what you said, a state of the person’s mind. Many of us know that cheating is wrong but some of us will do it anyways even if they know it is wrong. It just does not affect their conscious. Also I have been in the same situation with either writing a paper fast and sloppy or slow and correct. I have done papers both ways but I tend to look at the class. Do I like the class enough to put in the extra work? I know the consequences of both answers and I am prepared for them. Doesn’t make me a bad person just some poor work ethics that I might consider fine tuning.
Right or Wrong
I like how you referenced on how things are either right or wrong. Ethics really come down to who the person is. Everyone is different on their views of what is right or wrong. You mentioned about writing papers, someone may find it OK to do a paper fast and sloppy and be happy with what they did. Other people may take a certain project more seriously and do the job right. But, just like you said, it all comes down to how someone feels about a topic is how they will respond. This results in many different variations in different people's idea of what is ethical and what is not. That is one thing I find interesting about individual ethics. It all comes down to how passionate someone is on what it is that they will do in that given situation.