Empirical studies on how ethical recommendations are translated into practice: a cross-section study on scope and...

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Translational Research
• Empirical Studies

Background:

• Empirical research informs bioethics by refining ethical recommendations and evaluating their implementation.
• This study focuses on empirical research that evaluates the translation of ethical recommendations into practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the scope and objectives of empirical studies evaluating the translation of ethical recommendations into practice.
• To map the landscape of evaluative and translational empirical studies in bioethics.

Main Methods:

• A systematic screening of the latest 400 publications from four bioethics journals was conducted.
• Publications were included if they represented evaluative empirical research, non-evaluative empirical research, or borderline cases.
• Evaluative empirical research publications were analyzed to determine the objects of evaluation.

Main Results:

• Out of 234 included studies, 36% were evaluative empirical studies, 54% non-evaluative, and 10% borderline.
• Evaluative studies primarily assessed concrete best practices (77%), followed by specific norms (16%), and aspirational norms (5%).
• Best practices evaluated included ethical procedures, institutions, clinical/research practices, educational programs, and legal regulations.

Conclusions:

• Empirical evaluative studies are present at all stages of the translational process, from theory to practice.
• The field of evaluative/translational empirical studies in bioethics can be structured by evaluation objects and types of best practices.
• This mapping provides a framework for understanding and organizing empirical research in bioethics.