Post on 09-Jul-2020
Ethical Dilemmas for the GIS Analyst
PresentorsKelly Alfaro HaugenScott CarteElizabeth DonovanJanene MichaelisGary MontgomerySarah Smith
Are ethics well defined in the GIS Community?
How do we as a GIS community define ethical behavior?
Is there even a problem with GIS’ers behaving unethically?
Who do you talk to when you run into an ethical dilemma?
Who is responsible for “policing” GIS Ethics?
Why Are We Even Here?
Knowing where “the line” is so you know when you’ve crossed it.
IntroNot much written on GIS Ethics.
Ethics: a. A set of principles of right conduct.b. A theory or a system of moral values:
2. ethics(used with a sing. verb) The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy.3. ethics(used with a sing. or pl. verb) The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.
Evolving Debate: Kantianism/ DeontologyHedonic Utilitarianism
No one answer!
AgendaTake Survey on Ethical Dilemmas
For Each Scenario we will:● Panelist discuss their answers, reasoning and approach● Reveal Audience Results● Audience Discussion
Discussion on:● Ethical Training● GISP ● What comes next?
SCENARIOS- WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
We will be sharing a # of generalized scenarios. Personalize it to your current/past experience.
I.E. Crime Data -> Soil Data or Water Data or Road DataI.E. Edit City Boundary -> Edit any official/important layer
I.E. Elected Official -> Employer, Person of Extreme Importance
Answers will remain anonymous (double blind). Answer quickly. We are looking for your “gut reaction”.
Should take 15 minutes to complete.You can stop answering at any time.
Ethical Spectrum
Bright Sunny Day
Worst Thing Imaginable
Ethical Decision
Unethical Decision
1 106 7 8 92 3 4 5
Rank the Scenarios on the
SCENARIO ONEAn official is up for re-election. Their platform included getting “tough on crime”. They ask you to create a hotspot map of before and after to showcase their accomplishment while in office.
You do, but the maps don’t have the “Wow factor” the official is looking for. They ask you to re-categorize the ramp on one of them to “highlight” the difference. The map is still labeled correctly. You know this opposes common convention.
You are a GIS professional (not a licensed surveyor), in charge of mapping the legal annexations in your jurisdiction to give guidance to the leadership.You have been asked to label the map as “survey accurate”.
SCENARIO Two
Survey
Accurate
You have been asked to create three election sub regions for a Fire District which recently merged with two other districts.
Project Rules:• Must use Fire Annexation Area• Approximately equal population• Approximately equal geographic area
SCENARIO Three – PART A
You have been asked to create three election sub regions for a Fire District which recently merged with two other districts.
Project Rules:• Must use Fire Annexation Area• Approximately equal population• Approximately equal geographic area
SCENARIO Three – PART B
Additional Info:You work for one of the fire districts
You have been asked to create three election sub regions for a Fire District which recently merged with two other districts.
Project Rules:• Must use Fire Annexation Area• Approximately equal population• Approximately equal geographic area
SCENARIO Three – PART C
Additional Info:Chief Halligan gives you a list of three addresses and said they should not fall into the same sub region.
You recognize the addresses as being the homes of Halligan’s current fire commissioners.
SCENARIO FourYour large urban county has applied for a grant for new LiDAR. Your last flight was 8 years ago. You have some new derivatives you would like to obtain for proposed future projects. However no formal plan.
You learn that one other county has applied. They are a small rural county, that have no previous LiDAR flights. Have less overall funds and a well documented plan of how they would use the data.
If you could make the decision:● Do you step aside so the other county gets it?● Do you take the funding for your county?
Who do you pick?
SCENARIO Five
• You intervene and ask to speak to the jurisdiction.
• The jurisdiction asks for a specific dataset. Your coworker offers to send it to them.
• Your coworker recommends a dataset. You know it has severe limitations. Your coworker doesn’t.
• The coworker then offers another dataset that would be completely inappropriate for the jurisdiction’s project.
• You do not intervene as the request went to your coworker.
You work for the state, you and your coworker have access to all the GIS data for your agency. You overhear another jurisdiction requesting a dataset from your coworker. You are very familiar with the data and its limitations however your coworker is not.
Where, if at all, do you intervene?
End of Survey
Discussion of Results...Things to think about...
Why did you vote a certain way?
What factors did you consider?
How did you decide?● Randomly Picked● Gut decision ● Policy/Procedure● Upbringing (My momma raised me right)● Training- Formal/Informal Ethical Training● Other?
SCENARIO ONEAn official is up for re-election. Their platform included getting “tough on crime”. They ask you to create a hotspot map of before and after to showcase their accomplishment while in office.
You do, but the maps don’t have the “Wow factor” the official is looking for. They ask you to re-categorize the ramp on one of them to “highlight” the difference.The map is still labeled correctly. You know this opposes common convention.
Scenario One
Minimum 3
Average 6.27Maximum 8
You are a GIS professional (not a licensed surveyor), in charge of mapping the legal annexations in your jurisdiction to give guidance to the leadership.You have been asked to label the map as “survey accurate”.
SCENARIO Two
Survey
Accurate
Scenario Two
Minimum 3
Average 7.45Maximum 9
Survey
Accurate
CHIEF HALLIGAN… REMINISCENT OF
"The events depicted in this scenario are fictitious. Any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental."
Halligan Bar AKA. Halligan Tool n. a forcible entry tool used by firefighters and law enforcement.
You have been asked to create three election sub regions for a Fire District which recently merged with two other districts.
Project Rules:• Must use Fire Annexation Area• Approximately equal population• Approximately equal geographic area
SCENARIO Three – PART A
Scenario Three - A
Minimum 1
Average 2.18Maximum 6
You have been asked to create three election sub regions for a Fire District which recently merged with two other districts.
Project Rules:• Must use Fire Annexation Area• Approximately equal population• Approximately equal geographic area
SCENARIO Three – PART B
Additional Info:You work for one of the fire districts
Scenario Three - B
Minimum 1
Average 3.91Maximum 7
You have been asked to create three election sub regions for a Fire District which recently merged with two other districts.
Project Rules:• Must use Fire Annexation Area• Approximately equal population• Approximately equal geographic area
SCENARIO Three – PART C
Additional Info:Chief Halligan gives you a list of three addresses and said they should not fall into the same sub region.
You recognize the addresses as being the homes of Halligan’s current fire commissioners.
Scenario Three - C
Minimum 3
Average 7.27Maximum 9
Scenario Three - All
Scenario Average Ranking
Part A: Analysis 2.18
Part B: You Work for the District 3.91
Part C: Addresses of Current Fire Chiefs 7.27
SCENARIO FourYour large urban county has applied for a grant for new LiDAR. Your last flight was 8 years ago. You have some new derivatives you would like to obtain for proposed future projects. However no formal plan.
You learn that one other county has applied. They are a small rural county, that have no previous LiDAR flights. Have less overall funds and a well documented plan of how they would use the data.
If you could make the decision:● Do you step aside so the other county gets it?● Do you take the funding for your county? Who do you pick?
Scenario Four
County A 60%
County B 40%
SCENARIO Five
• You intervene and ask to speak to the jurisdiction.
• The jurisdiction asks for a specific dataset. Your coworker offers to send it to them.
• Your coworker recommends a dataset. You know it has severe limitations. Your coworker doesn’t.
• The coworker then offers another dataset that would be completely inappropriate for the jurisdiction’s project.
• You do not intervene as the request went to your coworker.
You work for the state, you and your coworker have access to all the GIS data for your agency. You overhear another jurisdiction requesting a dataset from your coworker. You are very familiar with the data and its limitations however your coworker is not.
Where, if at all, do you intervene?
Scenario Five
When Do You Do Something Different
Beginning: Ask to Handle the Request 27%
Specific Dataset: No questions 55%
Severe Limitations: Only you know 18%
Wrong Dataset: completely led astray 0%
You Don’t Intervene: not your request 0%
Have you received Ethical Training?
Yes 9No 2
GIS Specific 0Other 9
If you had Ethical Training, what did it consist of?
● Curriculum & Formal Training● Articles & Papers● How to Lie with Maps
How to Lie with Maps
“Cartographic paradox: to present a useful and truthful picture, an accurate map must tell white lies.”
Mark Monmonier
• Frequently quoted in ethical papers and articles• Commonly found as a tool in GIS courses• Presents questions & scenarios
Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996, 2nd Edition
Articles & Papers
“In Short, for many map-makers ethics remains a gray area, lost somewhere in the abyss that separates logic
from the swamp of subjective opinion.” J.B. Harley
https://www.directionsmag.com/article/1075http://www.cartographicperspectives.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1053
Curriculum & Training
“Students develop ethical awareness and moral reasoning skills through methodical analysis and discussion of case studies.”
Penn State
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/research/projects/gisethicsproducts
Certification“GIS certification (such as the GISP) have incorporated
ethics; however, often this is a simple signature that promises to abide by ethical guidelines, rather than any formal education on the use of GIS within ethical limits.”
MARK ALTAWEEL
https://www.gislounge.com/need-ethics-gis/#_ftn4
Do you have a GISP?
# %Yes 4 36%
No 7 64%
GISP CODE OF ETHICS
“This code is based on the ethical principle of always treating others with respect and never merely as means to an end: i.e. deontology. It requires us to consider the impact of our actions on other persons and to modify our actions to reflect the respect and concern we have for them. It emphasizes our obligations to other persons, to our colleagues and the profession, to our employers, and to society as a whole. Those obligations provide
the organizing structure for these guidelines.“
Have you read it?
Haven’t had any previous
ethical training?
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Should there be more training?Should ethics training be required?
Who’s responsibility is it? Are we good? Non-issue?
https://www.pinterest.com/jamesh20/photojournalism-ethics/
Share your Dilemmas!Please email Elizabeth or Kelly with any dilemmas you have experienced, heard of or can think of.
Not here to judge. We will change names and protect the innocent/guilty.
https://lifeisntthatcomplicated.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/advice-on-advice/
GIS SPECIFIC RESOURCESGISP Code of Ethics:
https://www.gisci.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics.aspx Books:
Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996, 2nd EditionJohn Pickles, Ground Truth- The Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems
Articles: https://www.directionsmag.com/article/1075http://www.cartographicperspectives.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1053 https://www.directionsmag.com/article/6923https://www.directionsmag.com/article/6727
Other GIS Specific Ethical Scenarios: White Paper on Surveyors vs GIS Professionals:
https://www.urisa.org/clientuploads/directory/Documents/Advocacy/DefiningBoundaries_WhitePaper1.pdfhttps://www.e-education.psu.edu/research/projects/gisethicsproducts
Panelist Bio’sPanel Coordinators
Kelly Alfaro Haugen - Kelly.AlfaroHaugen@co.thurston.wa.us Thurston County GeoData Center; GIS Analyst II
Elizabeth Donovan - Elizabeth.Donovan@co.thurston.wa.us Thurston County Sheriff’s Office; Crime Analyst
Janene Michaelis - Janene.Michaelis@co.thurston.wa.usThurston County Community Planning; GIS Analyst II
Panelist MembersScott Carte - cartes@trpc.org
Thurston Regional Planning Council; GIS Coordinator
Gary Montgomery - GMontgom@ci.lacey.wa.usCity of Lacey; GIS Coordinator
Sarah Smith - Sarah.Smith@co.thurston.wa.us Thurston County GeoData Center; GIS Analyst II