Systematic approach to ethical decision making using matrices

Abstract

With origins in the decision matrices used to choose between competing alternative designs, the Ethical Decision Matrix is a practical way to ensure that a student will use a systematic approach in engineering ethical situations and at least reflect on a broad range of considerations. Alternative ethical solutions are evaluated using a subset of the professional canon of ethics from the National Society of Professional Engineers. The columns of the decision matrix correspond to the alternative ethical solutions; the rows correspond to the canons. The students fill in the matrix blanks with a ldquoyesrdquo, ldquonordquo or ldquomayberdquo (with perhaps a few words of explanation) to indicate if the solution is consistent with a particular canon. A process for introducing this method to students is described and illustrated for the case of an engineer who feels design changes may have compromised the safety of a bridge.