Application Assignment #3: Ethical Dilemma Problem and Solution -- DUE 9/15
Overview
For this assignment you’ll write a report in which you analyze and propose a solution to an ethical situation (hopefully a situation you have experienced) using a code of ethics for your profession/field of study.
Purpose
This assignment has several purposes:
- To increase your understanding of ethical issues involving technical writers.
- To increase your understanding of the code of ethics in your chosen field.
- To practice writing in a specific format.
The Ethical Situation
Option 1
Describe, analyze, and respond to an ethical dilemma that you have personally encountered or heard about in your workplace or profession.
Option 2
Describe, analyze, and respond to one of the hypothetical ethical situations listed at the end of this document. If you chose a hypothetical situation, you must embellish the details of the story to make it believable. Create a context for the situation.
Audience
Although your writing will not be shared outside this classroom without your permission, write this assignment for a broader audience: all instructors and students at NMC. That means that you will need to write for an audience who knows your general environment but doesn’t know you personally. Use a tone and voice appropriate for an academic audience.
Format
This assignment should be submitted as a memo and should be more than one but less than three pages long. Your memo should be addressed to “NMC Faculty” and the subject line should be “Application Assignment #3: Ethics”. Review Lumen Learning Module 7: Memos for help designing/arranging your memo. Your memo should include the following subheadings:
Introduction
Ethical Problem
Ethical Guidelines
Solution
Content
Introduction
Use this section to explain your purpose, which means that you should briefly explain the type of situation you will be analyzing. Be very clear here if you’re writing about something you actually experienced or if you’re writing about one of the hypothetical scenarios.
Ethical Problem
Explain in detail the ethical problem that you have experienced, observed, or discussed in classes or in a job you’ve held in your field (Option 1). For the sake of creating an authentic piece of writing, it’s highly suggested that you focus on something you have actually experienced. Use first person where applicable and explain your role in the situation/problem. If you are using one of the hypothetical examples, you should explain the situation in your own words (Option 2). Basically, you need to write as if you’ve actually experienced the ethical dilemma.
Ethical Guidelines
Discuss the guidelines that you are applying to the situation. The guidelines you reference in your writing should be from a code of ethics for your specific or general profession. Use this link to help you find an applicable code. Be sure to identify and include a link to the professional code of ethics to which you’re referring. Identify the sections of the code that apply to your problem or dilemma. It’s okay to quote here, but if you quote, use quotation marks around quoted material and include a parenthetical citation.
Solution
Explain how the problem should be resolved based on the ethical codes you have reviewed and, if appropriate, your personal values and beliefs. Make sure to distinguish between the two, however. If you believe that a different resolution would be more appropriate based on different information, you can explain that as well. In other words, you can give several possible solutions based on qualifying factors.
Hypothetical Ethical Situations
You can analyze and respond to one of these hypothetical situations involving technical writing. If you chose one of these hypothetical scenarios, you must embellish the details. Use your imagination to provide a context for the story. Use names and places and fill in the details to make the scenario you pick real.
- Your boss asks you to photoshop him out of a photo that you’re using in an email newsletter. He says the photo is unflattering. What do you do?
- As she’s reviewing your report, your boss tells you to highlight and expand a paragraph about a partnership with a local nonprofit. You had deliberately downplayed this partnership because the nonprofit had been an unreliable partner, according to members of the project team. What do you do?
- You hear through the grapevine that a co-worker who gave you information for a report may have fabricated key data. The report is due to be published in two days. What do you do?
- Your boss wants you to prepare a PowerPoint for a last-minute presentation to a community group. You include some data that you’re 99% sure came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Your boss is picky about citing sources, but you literally don’t have time to research the source. What do you do?