About
What is the Data Science Ethos?
The Data Science Ethos was created by an interdisciplinary team of social scientists, humanists, and data scientists working with ADSA to merge the data science research workflow with an ethical framework. The Data Science Ethos integrates human contexts and potential consequences of decisions at each stage of the research process.
Case studies provided with the tool offer examples of how real-world research projects can benefit from integrating the research process with ethical lenses through which to examine data science research.
Codes of Ethics are common across many communities of research and practice, but they rarely help the community members understand how to infuse these ethics into their daily work. The Data Science Ethos helps learners and researchers draw connections from their data science work to the world around them.
The Data Science Ethos highlights what we believe to be data science’s true spirit - namely to provide insight about the world around us while centering ethical and responsible services, outcomes, and technologies.
ADSA launched the creation of the Data Science Ethos tool prompted and supported by the academic data science community. We could not have built the tool without community input, and we want to continue engaging the community. Tell us what you think about the tool, how you've used it for teaching and training, and how you think we can make improvements.
Ethos, the ancient Greek word that has become "ethic" in modern English, refers to the spirit or character of a people. In public life, it is common to hear qualitative descriptions of the ethos of a professional community – doctors, teachers, lawyers, or scientists – who have a discernible ethos. Data scientists have an ethos, too, and we believe this ethos includes considering the potential impacts of our work on the world around us.
The Academic Data Science Alliance (ADSA) builds communities of academic data science leaders, practitioners, and educators, and academic-adjacent colleagues, to thoughtfully integrate data science best practices in higher education.
Learn More
Read the research article by Data Science Ethos creators to dig deeper into the intellectual foundation for our approach to data science ethics.
Ethos Authors and Contributors
Lastly, a big thank you to members of the ADSA Community, who offered feedback on this project throughout its development.
About ADSA
The Academic Data Science Alliance (ADSA) builds communities of academic data science leaders, practitioners, and educators, and academic-adjacent colleagues, to thoughtfully integrate data science best practices in higher education.