Applying Ethical Theories Essay Example for Free

Applying Ethical Theories EssaySummaryplagiarization in todays copy and paste generation is an unremitting, complex issue that is not yet richly understood. The paper responds to this proposition with a thesis that understanding the ethical reasoning provided by learners in defending plagiarism is crucial in preventing it in schoolchild populations. The reasons can provide the basis for specific action-orientated recommendations to reduce plagiarism and to design programs to encourage originality and faculty member honesty within the relevant educational institutions. Moreover, the authors explain that this dissect has broader implications, given the link between educational plagiarism and the organisation and profitability of businesses. The paper develops an ethical framework to analyse the reasons that students enforce when defending their plagiarism. This framework is ground on previous research into the ethical reasoning of students in different contexts.The authors explain and apply six ethical theories in the paper Deontology, Utilitarianism, Rational self-interest, Machiavellianism, cultural relativism and Situational ethics. The paper uses content compendium methodology to implement the ethical framework described above. Consequently, the research evaluates the recorded content prove in the confidential files of students found to have plagiarised work at a US university. This includes the formal process by which the students were charged with plagiarism and how they defended their actions. To ensure the research was not bleached two judges were utilise to evaluate the reasoning.To ensure a sufficient level of inter-rater reliability, the judges evaluated 20 identical ads before being given the cases apply in the study. Their results show students used all 6 ethical theories, deontology being the most common with 41.8% of using this reasoning. Variables such as Sex, Ethnicity and GPA had no way out on the students ethical reasoning. S tudents who used the Internet to plagiarize were to a greater extent(prenominal) likely to resort to Situational ethics and Utilitarianism. Thepaper concludes by listing a series of recommendations for each ethical theory on how to instil ethical behaviour and help prevent cases of plagiarism.Critical Analysis of the papers purposePlagiarism and the internetGranitz and Lowey describe a new plagiarism epidemic in the paper subject to review. The analysis that they present, that plagiarism is increasing due to the ease of which discipline can be lifted from the internet, is justified by previous academic research. The Internet provides as huge source of cultivation which is easily available to students for use in academic papers (Weinstein Dobkin, 2002.) Moreover, the way that information is presented and is accessible on the Internet has made plagiarism easier (Klein, 2011). Students have the opportunity to copy and compile information from a variety of sources with speed, partic ularly when compared with old-style plagiarism using hard copy sources.However, since the publication of the paper in 2006, it could be argued that many professors have become more tech savvy, particularly with the development of technology in electronic detection tools (Klein, 2011.) Consequently, it is less easy to sustain the argument that transgression whitethorn present an overwhelming challenge to students, as technology improves and if teachers in academic institutions become more technologically adept. Applying ethical reasoning to plagiarismAfter a historical analysis of the development of the concept of plagiarism, the paper moves on to conclude that our modern perception of plagiarism is that it is morally reprehensible. I would critique this approach using the analysis of worship and Ethics put forward by Klein in 2011. Granitz and Lowey do not appear to consider the finale to which the moral and ethical approach of students in academic institutions whitethorn differ from the general modern perception of plagiarism that they describe. Klein describes the research which suggests that there is ambiguity on what is perceived as plagiarism among learners. Quoting Weiss Bader (2003), an example of an line of business of ambiguity might include peer collaboration and knowing to what extent the collaboration is considered inappropriate.Consequently, I would argue that the paper does not fully consider the extent to which the ethicalproblems posed by plagiarism may be problematic because they are non-traditional and that they may not fit easily into existing and well used categorisation systems (Clegg et al., 2007). Instead, the paper seeks to apply ethical philosophies taken from different ethical contexts (albeit ideas used by students) and it maintains the general proposition that plagiarism is considered as morally wrong, without analysing this specifically in relation to students and academic institutions.Content analysis as a research methodolo gyThe paper applies a content analysis to review student files which record the formal process by which students in a large US West Coast university were charged with plagiarism and defended themselves. The article recognises the fact that students may disguise their true reasoning whilst providing the reasoning, but concludes that they are still exposing the logic that they use to defend plagiarism and being able to counter that logic is blue-chip for the faculty. This problems has been considered in the business context, in which virtually every empirical inquiry of issues relevant to applied business ethics involves the asking of questions that are sensitive, embarrassing, threatening, stigmatizing, or paint a picture (Dalton and Metzger, 1992, p. 207).Furthermore, since the early 1950s researchers in organizational sciences have expressed concern that the tendency of individuals to deny socially undesirable traits and to admit to socially desirable ones may impair empirical s tudies based on questionnaires which require respondents to report on their own behaviour or attitudes (Randall and Fernandes, 1991, p. 805)RecommendationsThe paper outlines a basis of recommendations based on the results achieved by the content analysis. Given the above critique of the content analysis, and the limit that the context of asking sensitive or incriminating questions in a business, and I would suggest academic, context, one could critique the assumption put forward in the paper that the recommendations for each ethical theory will achieve the effect of diminution plagiarism in institutions and provide a basis for the implementation of clear academic policies. Moreover, expanding on what I have suggested above, given the critique forwarded by Weiss and Bader (2003), it could be argues that poorpublic perception of plagiarism in academic institutions may make any changes difficult to implement. I would argue that a more utilizable critique would be to consider the reas ons offered by students in a non-confrontational and stigmatizing context, which could be used to understand the specific ethical context of plagiarism and to produce more specific recommendations.ReferencesClegg, Kornberger and Rhodes 2007 Business Ethics as Practice British journal of Management 18 107-122 Dalton, D. R. and M. B. Metzger 1992, Integrity Testing for Personnel Selection An Unsparing purview, Journal of Business Ethics Kaptein M and Schwartz S 2008 The Effectiveness of Business Codes A Critical Examination of Existing Studies and the Development of an Integrated Research Model, Journal of Business 77 111-127 Klein D 2011 Why Learners Choose Plagiarism A Review of Literature, Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects 7 Randall, D., Fernandes, M. F. (1991) The Social Desirability response Bias in Ethics Research. Journal ofBusiness Ethics Robertson, D.C. (1993). Empiricism in Business Ethics Suggested Research Directions. Trevino, Linda K., Ethica l Decision Making in Organizations A Person-Situation Interaction Model, Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 1986, pp.601-617. Weinstein and Dobkin 2002 Plagiarism in U.S. Higher Education Estimating Internet Plagiarism Rates and Testing a Means of Deterrence, regular army Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Weiss, D. H., Bader, J. B. (2003) Undergraduate ethics at Homewood. Standler, R. B. (2000). Plagiarism in colleges in USA