Salloch Sabine, Wäscher Sebastian, Vollmann Jochen, Schildmann Jan
Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, NRW Junior Research Group "Medical Ethics at the End of Life: Norm and Empiricism", Malakowturm - Markstr. 258a, D-44799, Bochum, Germany.
BMC Med Ethics. 2015 Apr 4;16:20. doi: 10.1186/s12910-015-0016-x.
Empirical-ethical research constitutes a relatively new field which integrates socio-empirical research and normative analysis. As direct inferences from descriptive data to normative conclusions are problematic, an ethical framework is needed to determine the relevance of the empirical data for normative argument. While issues of normative-empirical collaboration and questions of empirical methodology have been widely discussed in the literature, the normative methodology of empirical-ethical research has seldom been addressed. Based on our own research experience, we discuss one aspect of this normative methodology, namely the selection of an ethical theory serving as a background for empirical-ethical research.
Whereas criteria for a good ethical theory in philosophical ethics are usually related to inherent aspects, such as the theory's clarity or coherence, additional points have to be considered in the field of empirical-ethical research. Three of these additional criteria will be discussed in the article: (a) the adequacy of the ethical theory for the issue at stake, (b) the theory's suitability for the purposes and design of the empirical-ethical research project, and (c) the interrelation between the ethical theory selected and the theoretical backgrounds of the socio-empirical research. Using the example of our own study on the development of interventions which support clinical decision-making in oncology, we will show how the selection of an ethical theory as a normative background for empirical-ethical research can proceed. We will also discuss the limitations of the procedures chosen in our project. The article stresses that a systematic and reasoned approach towards theory selection in empirical-ethical research should be given priority rather than an accidental or implicit way of choosing the normative framework for one's own research. It furthermore shows that the overall design of an empirical-ethical study is a multi-faceted endeavor which has to balance between theoretical and pragmatic considerations.
实证伦理研究是一个相对较新的领域，它整合了社会实证研究和规范分析。由于从描述性数据直接推断出规范性结论存在问题，因此需要一个伦理框架来确定实证数据与规范性论证的相关性。虽然文献中广泛讨论了规范-实证合作问题和实证方法论问题，但实证伦理研究的规范方法论却很少被提及。基于我们自己的研究经验，我们讨论这种规范方法论的一个方面，即选择一种伦理理论作为实证伦理研究的背景。
在哲学伦理学中，一个好的伦理理论的标准通常与内在方面相关，比如理论的清晰度或连贯性，而在实证伦理研究领域还需要考虑其他要点。本文将讨论其中三个额外标准：（a）伦理理论对所涉问题的充分性；（b）该理论对实证伦理研究项目的目的和设计的适用性；（c）所选伦理理论与社会实证研究的理论背景之间的相互关系。以我们自己关于开发支持肿瘤学临床决策的干预措施的研究为例，我们将展示如何进行伦理理论的选择，以作为实证伦理研究的规范背景。我们还将讨论我们项目中所采用程序的局限性。本文强调，在实证伦理研究中，应优先采用系统且合理的理论选择方法，而不是偶然或隐含地为自己的研究选择规范框架。此外，它表明实证伦理研究的总体设计是一项多方面的工作，必须在理论和实际考虑之间取得平衡。
