Proposal Description

This session is being organized on behalf of ISI's Advisory Board on Ethics (ABE) and will draw attention to the importance of ethical practices in all areas of the statistical profession with particular reference to developing countries.

In today’s data-rich world, it is essential that policy decisions be based on statistical evidence. The importance of ethical practices in all areas of the statistical profession is thus self-evident. May it be academia, business, industry, government or official statistics, anyone and everyone involved in statistical practice should keep ethical considerations in mind at all times.

Due to socio-economic and cultural realities, the situation of developing countries is very different from that of the developed world. The differences span numerous aspects of life including the economy, education, employment, belief-systems and so on. As such, people in developing countries experience and encounter a number of challenges that may not exist in the technologically advanced world. Adoption and implementation of ethical principles thus becomes difficult at times for statisticians working in developing countries.

The session will throw light on the peculiar challenges faced by the statistical communities of various developing countries in implementing ethical principles during the course of their work. Influences such as political interference, yellow journalism, etc. that create hindrances in the fulfilment of responsibilities by statisticians working in national statistical offices (NSOs) will be highlighted. As well, the session will highlight challenges faced by academic statisticians who, on many occasions, are not prepared to deal with ethical issues such as plagiarism, students´ inclination to change data values in order to obtain desired research results, and so on.

An attempt will be made to address the question of how to avoid or to confront such pressures in order to preserve the integrity and independence of the professional responsibilities of statisticians in developing countries.