An "Ethical Moment" in Data Sharing.

Area of Science:

• Science and Technology Studies
• Bioethics
• Sociology of Science

Background:

• Biomedical research communities face complex challenges in data sharing and access negotiations.
• The concept of an "ethical moment" emerged from interviews, highlighting confrontations in data sharing.
• Existing approaches to empirical ethics and actor-network theory (ANT) have limitations in integrating ethics with empirical research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To use "ethical moments" as a lens to examine the relationship between conceptual and empirical aspects of ethics in research.
• To challenge the status quo and explore alternative ethical possibilities in scientific collaboration.
• To integrate ethics and empirical research by drawing on actor-network theory and Deleuze's philosophy.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving interviews with forty-nine members of a UK biomedical research community.
• Utilizing actor-network theory (ANT) as a theoretical framework.
• Employing concepts of controversy and ontological uncertainty to analyze ethical issues and the empirical realm.

Main Results:

• Identified "ethical moments" as critical junctures in data sharing negotiations.
• Demonstrated how concepts from ANT, like controversy and ontological uncertainty, can address ethical problems.
• Proposed a framework for understanding the ontological structure of virtual and actual realities, bridging empirical research and ethical considerations.

Conclusions:

• The study offers a novel approach to integrating ethics into empirical research within biomedical communities.
• Actor-network theory, combined with Deleuze's concepts, provides valuable tools for analyzing and navigating ethical complexities in data sharing.
• This work challenges existing treatments of empirical ethics and ANT, paving the way for new ethical possibilities in scientific practice.