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360 – Consulting, Collaboration, Communication, and Impact

Ethical Reasoning with the 2016 Revised ASA Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice

at Georgetown University Medical Center

Interest in the 2016 revised American Statistical Association (ASA) Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice is keen across the ASA membership and leadership, but as of the 2013-14 academic year, only 35% of US universities required any ethics content for even some of their students in statistics and biostatistics programs. The Guidelines are complex - as is statistical consulting - and the ASA Guidelines require both instruction and practice, particularly to prioritize its principles during statistical consultation. The last 15 years have also seen growing interest in "pro bono statistics" - volunteer statistical consulting as a social service. In the United States, two ASA-based organizations engage directly in pro bono statistics: Statistics Without Borders works with clients globally, while members of the Statistics in the Community (StatCom) Network work at the local and state levels. In this paper, we discuss how to engage in ethical reasoning using the 2016 revised ASA Ethical Guidelines; examples arising from consulting (using actual experiences) are employed, although the examples are applicable or adaptable to any statistical work. The purpose is to demonstrate ethical reasoning both for instructors interested in adding this feature to consulting courses and for students or consultants who wish to build experience, and evidence of engagement, with the ASA Ethical Guidelines.