Ethics in Technical Communication

Sunil Gokhale

Definition: Ethics
Ethics is doing what is RIGHT to achieve what is GOOD.

The key to ethical action is to behave with integrity that is based on sound core of personal values.

Definition: Value
A principle, standard or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.

Value analysis boils down to the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

Not all values are ethical.

Interest: Regard for ones own benefit or advantage

Ethics + Values
Ethical value
A belief or a principle rooted in moral behavior, based on a sense of what is right.

Unethical value
A belief or a principle rooted in immoral behavior, based on a sense of what is wrong (of consciously disregarding what is right).

Non-ethical value
A belief or a preference that is not related to right and wrong

Value analysis: Concentric Ring model

Core values
Honesty, Value of life, Love of family, Respect for others, Personal religious faith

Authority values
Political affiliations, Organized religion, Corporate loyalty, Patriotism

Peripheral values
Fashion tastes, Recreational preferences, Favorite sports, Ice cream flavors

Ethical Conflicts
Right Vs Wrong
Conflict between clearly ethical and clearly unethical values

Right Vs Right
Conflict among two or more values, all ethical

Wrong Vs Wrong
Conflict among two or more values, all unethical

Definition: Business ethics

Personal integrity

A person who adheres to an ethical value system, a moral code

Social value
The sense that we should share and cooperate, even if it means compromising our self interest

Are good ethics good business?

Virtue Its the right thing to do Doing whats right for its own sake out of integrity and pride Prudence Its the smart thing to do Doing whats right for fear of consequences of getting caught doing something wrong

Ten Basic Values in Technical Communication

Honesty
Our duty to tell the right Legality

Our duty to obey the law

Privacy Our duty to respect the rights of others

Quality
Our duty to provide quality products and services that will best serve the user

Ten Basic Values in Technical Communication

Teamwork

Our duty to work together to meet mutual objectives

Avoiding conflict of interest

Our duty to be loyal and to observe fair play

Cultural sensitivity Our duty to reflect the growing diversity of the workplace in our technical communications

Ten Basic Values in Technical Communication

Social responsibility

Our duty to preserve and protect the public good

Professional growth

Our duty to maintain and develop our skills

Advancing the profession Our duty to respect and assist our colleagues and enhance the reputation of our profession

Honesty: The best policy?

Honesty is telling the truth. Its right. Dishonesty is lying. Its wrong. Are you honest? Well, basically Im honest.

Communicating honestly is more than just telling the truth. Its more than not telling a lie.

Price for (dis)honesty

Professors may feel the pressure to publish or perish Students feels it is pass or perish

In business it is to serve the bottom line

Internal competition for personal advancement is intense

Nine ways to lie in Technical Communication

Lying by Commission
Deliberate outright falsification or prevarication

Lying by Omission
Technical communicator not responsible for something that has been omitted before he gets the material.

Lying with Language

Deliberate Vagueness
Weaving a verbal tapestry of verbal generalities to disguise the fact.

Circumlocution
Verbally talking around the issue

Euphemisms
Nice word used to sugar-coat an unpleasant reality

False Generalization
Logical fallacy

Loaded and slanted language

Terms that carry strong emotional connotations

Lying with Statistics

Misuse of numbers for purpose of deception by commission, omission or circumlocution Statistics is like a bikini it reveals the necessary but conceals the essential

Surveys Percentages Averages

Lying with Graphics

If one picture is worth thousand words, then one lie in the graphics is worth thousand lies.

Lying with Photographs

Since the digital file can be subtly or not so subtly altered without a trace, it will become almost impossible to know whether a photograph is genuine or retouched.

Lying with Multimedia

If still photographs can be altered with major consequences, consider the staggering impact of deceptive or inappropriate use of video footage, sound and animation.

Lying with Logical Fallacies

As trained linguistic specialists, technical communicators may be assumed to understand the logical fallacies; its therefore hard to imagine how they could use them without intent to deceive.

Lying with Propoganda Techniques

Cousins of logical fallacies used mostly in advertisements and politics but they crop up in marketing communication.