Profession Ethical Analysis Paper

In this assignment explore the ethical issues you can expect to face in your chosen profession (i.e. accounting, public sector, management, finance, social service, economics, teaching, marketing etc.).

To complete the project, you need to do library and on-line research as well as interview practicing professionals. The final product is a "paper"; however, it does require you to do both secondary and primary research; the primary research is in the form of conducting qualitative interviews; hopefully, if you have already taken a research and methodology course (i.e. BIS 302: Interdisciplinary Inquiry), this could actually be second nature for you. I will allow you to use either the APA or MLA (or perhaps Chicago for those attached to it) research style format; yet, you must choose ONE style and be consistent throughout your paper; if you need any review or pointers, then simply go to the ASU library links where you will find links to both APA and MLA sites.

I also provide you with a section from the textbook I use in my BIS 302 course; the section covers "Conducting Interviews." examine carefully, especially if you have never created nor conducted an interview.

For this paper, complete the following steps:
1) The student must choose the field/profession he or she is moving into after graduation. If the student is already employed full-time in the field of their choice, then simply use that field/profession. If the student intends to go to graduate school after receiving their Bachelor's degree, then choose the field/profession they intend to enter after graduating from graduate school (i.e. maybe after receiving a BIS or OGL degree, the student intends to go to law school; if so, that student will choose "law" as their field/profession, and if they already know what kind of law they want to practice - i.e. "environmental law," then choose that as their field).

2) Using a library, the student does secondary research by locating at least six case studies of ethical dilemmas found in that profession. The student must share the actual case study in its entirety; they do not simply share the URL, although the URL does need to be included in case I need to visit the site myself. This resembles a "Literature Review" of sorts, for it does require commenting on the ethical dilemma in addition to simply sharing it. The commentary section should include why the student chose that particular ethical dilemma - why did it catch the student's attention? - why is it a "hot" topic? -- why is it important in the student's opinion? (NOTE: Because students find work in a wide variety of professions after graduation, students need to utilize a wide variety of databases in order to locate different case studies; however, I have found that The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics site can be particularly helpful for this assignment. This site can be found under the "Web Resources" link in Module 2 and Module 6.)

3) The student must interview 2 to 4 working professionals who can either comment on one or more of the case studies shared AND/OR comment/provide information on an all new ethical dilemma, one the student had not thought of nor discovered for him or herself. This step requires the student to both create and carry out a qualitative interview utilizing the information provided in the "Conducting Interviews." pdf file on how to do so. The interviews can be conducted in person (by far the preferred method), by telephone, using Skype, e-mail etc. Do note that the interview lengths need to be 60 minutes each if interviewing 2 people, and 30 minutes each if interviewing 4 people; the student wants to be sure that they have enough time to conduct the interview with the understanding that the kinds of questions asked are the keys to success. Yet, the student should always be aware that what is ultimately desired here is the interviewee's summary of ethical dilemmas found in their profession and their thoughts on those dilemmas. Note that the wonderful thing about qualitative interviews is that the interviewer IS allowed to follow the train of thought of the interviewee, even asking questions as they arise; that is, the interviewer is not limited to the questions crafted at the start of the interview - DO ask new questions as they arise.

4) The student then needs to discuss their findings by critiquing what the interviewees shared. This must be done by utilizing at least one of the ethical theories/frameworks learned in the course this semester (i.e. Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism etc.). Here the student is basically commenting on what they learned from the interviewees and how they feel about what they have learned. Thus, here the student is basically writing an "essay," demonstrating critical thinking skills by applying one or more of the ethical theories to the information gathered. The student will chose the ethical theory that seems the handiest or most effective at allowing one to understand the ethical dilemma under consideration.

5) The paper needs to have a "Title" page (which includes the title of the paper, the students name, the due date, and any other information the student deems important) and either a "References" page (APA) or a "Works Cited" page (MLA) at the end of the work. The student needs to consistently follow the citation process and the general format structure of either the APA or MLA style throughout the paper. The paper must also include the following sections which do need to be clearly indicated as headings:

INTRODUCTION: Here the student simply shares the profession and summarizes what the paper will include (the student summarizes what will be found in each section of the paper).

REVIEW OF THE CASE STUDIES: Here the student simply shares each case study, one at a time, being sure to properly cite the source, of course. Each case study should be followed by short "commentary" section (see 2 above).

METHOD: Here the student simply states that they have interviewed either two or four working professionals. The student shares the names of each person interviewed and their job title/description. The student must also share the interview questions themselves, not the responses, just the questions crafted for the interview.

RESULTS: Here the student simply shares both the questions put forward and the responses given by each interviewee, one at a time. This does include new questions that may have been asked as the interview progressed.

DISCUSSION: Here the student composes a formal "essay" on what they learned from the interviews. This is their analysis/critique applying ethical theories learned in the course this semester. Do try to personalize matters here. What did you learn? How did it impact you? Can you or will you prepare for such issues once you enter the profession?