Posted by John Gardenier on July 12, 1999 at 15:03:40:
In Reply to: Additional Comment on Ethics Guideline 7, Section II.F.6 posted by Jay Chmiel on July 02, 1999 at 15:09:17:
: In Section II.F.6, is it really necessary to list ten
: different professionally irrelevant bases for
: discrimination?
: If so, why shouldn’t "political beliefs" be added to
: the list? In Statistical Science, Volume 11, Number 4,
: Page 340, one can find reference to statistics
: professors who were harassed because of their
: political beliefs during the "McCarthy era."
Jay, the anti-discrimination item starts from the fact that there are formal ASA Board of Director resolutions on record which address some "protected classes." From there, it is a matter of judgment what additional items should be included. Yours is the first suggestion we have seen regarding "political views." I am also aware of complaints of discrimination based on language,dialect, or regional accent.
Similarly, there may be discrimination based on appearance (height, weight, "beauty", etc.), on personal traits (shifty eyes, rumpled clothes, a habit of jabbing people with a finger or elbow while making a point, etc.), and many other factors. It is a matter of judgment as to what items are included and which are not. The list you see is the consensus of this committee at this time.
John Gardenier
: Jay Chmiel