Performance Benchmark N.12.B.3
Students know the influence of ethics on scientific enterprise. E/S
Sample Test Questions
1st Item Specification: Identify “ethical” and “unethical” practices in scientific research
and describe the differences between them (e.g., treatment of test subjects and falsifying
data).
Depth of Knowledge Level 1
1. The American Physiological Society conducted research into ethical infractions by scientists.
The infractions occurred from 1996 to 2004. Use the diagram to answer the following
question.
(From http://advan.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/29/2/59)
The major ethical infraction which occurred between 1996 through 2004 was
A. Conflicts of Interest (conflict between official responsibilities and private interests).
B. Plagiarism (substantial unattributed textual copying of another’s work).
C. Authors Disputes (disputes and conflicts over who qualifies for authorship).
D. Redundant Publications (republishing parts of an already published article).
2. According to ethical guidelines established by the National Academy of Science, which of
the following is INCORRECT concerning scientific research? Scientific research
A. involves collaborating with other scientists.
B. takes place within a broad social and historical context.
C. must not be restricted by the influence of ethical concerns.
D. cannot be done without drawing on the work of other scientists.
3. “That which is known and has been developed in science based on cumulative knowledge
collected from historic times up to and including present day” serves as the definition of
scientific
A. law.
B. enterprise.
C. theory.
D. ethics.
Depth of Knowledge Level 2
4. Read the following passage from http://www.academon.com/lib/paper/63789.html, then
answer the question.
The Nazi sponsored science encompassed a wide range of fields. Research on diseases
such as malaria, gangrene, tuberculosis, and wound and poison effects were heavily
pursued. Josef Mengele, a scientist, worked closely with twins, as he would often infect one
with a deadly disease, and upon the arrival of death, murder the other and compare the
organs of the twins. Many medical experiments were conducted to try and improve the
survival of German pilots in the Luftwaffe (air force). These tests included prisoners being
subjected to high heat, high-pressure as well as low pressure, and freezing mixtures. Often
the inmates were tested "until they expired."
Which of these statements most likely reflects the ethical dilemma today’s doctors might
have regarding the Nazi medical research?
A. The doctors realize they will need to replicate the research to prove it correct, but
know they will have difficulty obtaining enough twins for the experiments.
B. Research designed to save the lives of military personnel is wrong, since it is the
job of soldiers in the military to kill other human beings during war.
C. Treating patients who have serious diseases ultimately results in the creation of
resistant “superbugs” which would likely be used against us by future enemies.
D. Though this research has provided information which could save lives, the means
by which the data was obtained is unethical and morally degrading to the victims.
5. Read the accompanying quote from C.P. Snow (The Search, New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1959), then answer the question.
"The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told
all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way, don't
you see, for false statements by intention. And of course a false statement of fact made
deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit."
Snow is putting forth his philosophy that
A. to not penalize errors may encourage fraud or lead to a situation where scientists
become tolerant of fraud.
B. scientists who are careful to always conduct their research in an ethical manner will
never make mistakes.
C. a scientist who deliberately makes a false statement has committed a serious crime,
and should be incarcerated.
D. if a scientist makes a false statement even in error it is a serious breach of ethics
likely followed by intentional false statements.
2nd Item Specification: Identify potential sources of intentional bias in scientific endeavors
and explain the motives and consequences (e.g., financial pressures related to funding and
choosing experiments most likely to support a favored hypothesis).
Depth of Knowledge Level 1
6. Patricia A. Bolton suggests deliberate deceit and dishonesty, including forged or fabricated
data, falsified or invented results, and plagiarism belongs within the category of
A. honest mistakes.
B. noncompliance.
C. scientific misconduct.
D. ethical behavior.
7. Which one of the following would constitute scientifically unethical behavior? A scientist
A. purposely releases a virus which causes sterility in individuals with genetic
disorders.
B. publishes information describing which radioactive substances are deadliest to
humans.
C. realizes s/he made an error in experimental design, and then makes public this error.
D. discovers a method to successfully clone mammals, including humans.
8. Use the diagram to answer the following question.
Top Ten Unethical Behaviors
Changing the design, methodology or results of a study in response to
pressure from a funding source
Overlooking others' use of flawed data or questionable interpretation of
data
Circumventing certain minor aspects of human-subject requirements
Failing to present data that contradict one's own previous research
Unathorized use of confidential information in connection with one's own
research
Using another's ideas without obtaining permission or giving due credit
Relationships with students, research subjects or clients that may be
interpreted as questionable
Not properly disclosing involvement in firms whose products are based on
one's own research
Ignoring major aspects of human-subject requirements
Falsifying or "cooking" research data
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Incident Percentage of Reported Behavior
(Derived from Nature, 435, June 2005, p. 737)
Of the following Top Ten Unethical Behaviors, the most common ethical misconduct
reported (the misconduct with the overall highest percentage of occurrence) was
A. falsifying, or “cooking”, research data.
B. using another’s ideas without obtaining permission or giving due credit.
C. overlooking others’ use of flawed data or questionable interpretation of data.
D. not properly disclosing involvement in firms whose products are based on ones’s
own research.
Depth of Knowledge Level 2
9. Read the excerpt from http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/92prom.html, then
answer the following question.
Michael Harvey Briggs built his scientific reputation on research into the effectiveness of
contraceptives. Briggs was considered a 'successful' scientist partly because he was able
to obtain large research funding from private industry. In particular, he conveniently
found that the contraceptives manufactured by the company that funded his research were
more effective than the contraceptives manufactured by competitors. It took the charge of
'fraud' -- manipulation of data -- to bring Briggs down. Of course, one of the prime
reasons for fraud is to obtain results that are convenient for a preconceived result, which is
often tied to a vested interest such as a corporate patron.
Which of the following is an unethical behavior perpetrated by Briggs? Briggs
A. obtained large research funding from a pharmaceutical company which
manufactured contraceptives, then tested the effectiveness of those contraceptives.
B. manipulated data to suggest that the contraceptives produced by the company which
funded his research were more effective than those of competitors.
C. conducted research designed to determine which contraceptives are most effective,
thus violating the tenets of Pro-Life advocates across the world.
D. worked for a pharmaceutical company which manufactured drugs, and it is known
that drugs can have harmful side-effects on people who take them.
10. Woo Suk Hwang is a South Korean biomedical scientist who rose to fame after reporting a
series of remarkable breakthroughs in the field of stem cell research. He claimed to have
succeeded in creating human embryonic stem cells by cloning. Read the accompanying
paragraph from http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthagw/2006/feb/business/js_fraud.html regarding his downfall then answer the following
question.
The fraud in stem-cell research papers by Woo Suk Hwang has sent shock waves through
scientific publishers everywhere. In a rare editorial move, the editor-in-chief of Science,
Donald Kennedy, retracted two papers by Hwang and his team and advised the scientific
community to consider the results invalid (Science 2006, 311, 335). The action followed an
investigation by Seoul National University (South Korea) that reported that Hwang
fabricated data, failed to produce any patient-specific stem-cell lines, misrepresented the
source and numbers of oocysts (human eggs) used in the research, and obtained eggs from
lab workers in a potentially coercive fashion.
Which of the following is NOT a reasonable motive as to why Hwang produced fraudulent
stem cell research?
A. He would gain academic prestige by accomplishing what others had not.
B. Producing ground-breaking results would help assure research funding.
C. Hwang could gain personal wealth from the patents he would receive.
D. The fraudulent research helped delay real research into an immoral field.
Performance Benchmark N.12.B.3
Students know the influence of ethics on scientific enterprise. E/S
Answers to Sample Test Questions
1. D, DOK level 1
2. C, DOK level 1
3. B, DOK level 1
4. D, DOK level 2
5. A, DOK level 2
6. C, DOK level 1
7. A, DOK level 1
8. C, DOK level 1
9. B, DOK level 2
10. D, DOK level 2