Therac-25 Worksheet - Participant Analysis

 

Worksheet 2 - Case Participant Analysis

Directions: For each participant you have been assigned, fill in the following worksheet with your partner.

Students: _________________________________________ ,

_________________________________________

Participant (given):

Participant Role (given):

Copy this worksheet to your disk and answer the following questions, in which "the problem" is the set of factors leading up to the Therac-25 machines injuring and killing people. Feel free to add related information not specifically covered in any questions. Don't forget to include reporting the problem as something they did or didn't do, as well as other activities. Read all the questions before starting to answer them; save the filled out worksheet in a file. Hand in one printout per pair of students.

As with any decision-making, ethical decision-making reviews appropriate information to reach a conclusion. You are asked to consider what facts and issues the participant (probably) considered, and whether each piece of information should (ethically) have been included in the decision. Use your own background and experience (personal and computer science or engineering), refer to the code of ethics you studied in class, and recall your experience as a member of a group project when thinking about these questions..

  1. Participant importance. How important was your participant in the overall disaster? Was their influence large or small? Might they or their actions have been able to change the outcome, and reduce the injuries and deaths?
  2. What they did.

a. List one major action the participant decided to take, related to the problem, and explain the consequences.

b. What was the basis for their decision to do what they did (list as many facts or issues which are given, or which you think they probably used in deciding)?

3. What they didn't do.

a. List one important thing that the participant did not do, either before or during the timeline given, but perhaps should have done (from an ethical viewpoint), and explain the consequences of that omission.

b. What (do you think) was the basis for their decision not to do that (list as many facts or issues which you think they used in deciding)?
  1. Categorize. For each fact or issue you listed above that affected a decision, categorize it as primarily ethical in view (e.g., maximizes system safety, follows professional code of conduct), or more related to self-interest (e.g., might get fired, costs the company money).
  2. Decide again. Reconsider the two decisions (to do something, and not to do something) of your participant. Would these have changed if they did not factor in the self-interest components? Explain.
  3. Guidelines. Suggest some guidelines for considering or ignoring factors when making a decision concerning ethics. What should or should not influence you? Why?

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