Dioptra
Dioptra   Dioptra
The pursuit of truth will set you free - even if you never catch up with it. (Darrow)

Dioptra for Research

Dioptra is designed to help groups in organizations make decisions in complex situations that have ethical dimensions. Ethical decision making is a "wicked" problem. Wicked problems:

  • Lack a definitive formulation
  • Have no clear stopping rule
  • Do not have clear standards for evaluating solution quality
  • Do not have clear causes or consequences
  • Each one is essentially unique

Rittel and Webber (1973) - see also the CogNexus Institute, Wikipedia, and Poppendieck.

Ethical decision making ...

... is particularly wicked. Centuries of research have not produced broad agreement among ethical theorists, let alone the general populace. Even basic terms like "ethics" and "good" do not have universal definitions. Further, ethics touches things that are central to human meaning, like religion, family, and justice.

Mathieson (2007)

Building an effective ethical decision support system (EDSS) may help improve ethical decision making in business in some situations. That itself is a worthy goal.

However, studying EDSS use also can provide insight into complex individual and group processes. Dioptra keeps detailed logs of user activity. Every time a decision maker (DM) opens a project, adds a component, edits text, sends a message, etc., the EDSS records the details of the transaction. Dioptra is a complete, stand-alone system, so, when groups are configured in certain ways, it can capture all interaction over time. Researchers can watch groups negotiate the meaning of the problem, identify dimensions on which to compare actions, revise their work as they tell stories about the implementation of their actions, and so on.

Further, there are plans to deliver surveys to DMs as they work. For example, after DMs have used the system for a certain amount of time, a short survey might appear, asking them what they think of their group members, the problem, the EDSS, etc. They can respond to Likert items, or enter free text.

Dioptra data sets could help researchers study many questions, including:

  • How do the attributes of DMs affect their choices?
  • How emotionally charged do ethical discussions become? Can this damage valuable business relationships?
  • Can people tolerate different ethical points of view? Can trust and group cohesiveness be maintained?
  • What happens when employees in remote locations participate in ethical decisions?
  • How can ethical decisions be structured?
  • Can unscrupulous people manipulate ethical decisions?
  • Can businesses set standards for ethical decision making? Can they help employees improve ethical decision making?
  • Can Dioptra help document ethical analyses? Can companies reuse good analyses?

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