Ethical and Responsible Research in the Design of Sociotechnical Systems

In this project, the research team will facilitate the development of ethical and responsible research (ER2) instructional prototypes designed to prompt dialogue about ER2 practices in social and computing (sociotechnical) systems for health research. The ER2 instructional prototypes will be developed through a three-phased process that includes: (1) an assessment of existing ER2 training and practices in academic programs that provide training in human computer interaction (HCI) (2) interviews with health researchers who use/study/develop sociotechnical systems, and (3) conducting community co-design workshops.

Key contributions will include the ER2 instructional prototypes for use by those designing technologies for use in health research as well as recommendations for educational interventions/strategies that are anchored to stakeholders within a behavioral ecological systems model. This research will be of interest to health researchers, health care providers, and health care users and their families, as well as be used to inform the training of the health care workforce.

The project will explore how ethical and responsible research (ER2) is cultivated in academic programs that provide training in HCI at the intersection of health research. The research team will examine and document the current ER2 landscape of HCI and design school programs to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to introducing formal and ad hoc instructional activities to foster respectful sociotechnical systems design applied to health research.

Using a human centered design process, the research aims to increase awareness of ER2 practices and related social responsibilities that occur throughout the day-to-day cycle of health research. First, activities related to Phases 1-2 will generate academic contributions that include data from a systematic review of relevant literature and prospective interviews to examine ER2 attitudes and practices among and within human computer interaction and interdisciplinary design programs.

These programs are targeted as these settings are where sociotechnical systems are being conceptualized and developed for use in health research and healthcare. Second, by creating a map of the existing ER2 training landscape, using an ecological framework, the research team will document how ER2 training is applied in practice (e.g., designing databases, creating hooks into the data, developing data visualization dashboards).

This will shape strategies for implementation of an ER2 Toolkit for sociotechnical health systems research. Third, the instructional prototypes developed through the community co-design process outlined in Phase 3 will contribute definitions and examples to a "design space" for tools to promote ER2 training and practice in HCI educational programs. In terms of broader impacts, the research will develop instructional tools and recommendations for ethics educators and the larger sociotechnical health systems research community that are anchored to the behavioral ecological systems model.

A long-term impact of this research is to promote dialogue among health researchers about the ethical, legal, and social implications associated with the (mis)use of sociotechnical systems in research.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.