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Ethics and Epistemology in Big Data Research

  • Symposium: Ethics and Epistemology of Big Data
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Abstract

Biomedical innovation and translation are increasingly emphasizing research using “big data.” The hope is that big data methods will both speed up research and make its results more applicable to “real-world” patients and health services. While big data research has been embraced by scientists, politicians, industry, and the public, numerous ethical, organizational, and technical/methodological concerns have also been raised. With respect to technical and methodological concerns, there is a view that these will be resolved through sophisticated information technologies, predictive algorithms, and data analysis techniques. While such advances will likely go some way towards resolving technical and methodological issues, we believe that the epistemological issues raised by big data research have important ethical implications and raise questions about the very possibility of big data research achieving its goals.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Associate Professor Ainsley Newson for her helpful guidance on an earlier version of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney, Medical Foundation Building (K25), Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Wendy Lipworth, Paul H. Mason & Ian Kerridge

  2. Haematology Department, Royal North Shore Hospital, Reserve Rd, St Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia

    Ian Kerridge

  3. Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    John P. A. Ioannidis

  4. Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford, CA, USA

    John P. A. Ioannidis

  5. Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford, Stanford, CA, USA

    John P. A. Ioannidis

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Correspondence to Wendy Lipworth.

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Research related to this article has been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (Career Development Fellowship APP1036539 and Project Grant APP APP1083980).

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Lipworth, W., Mason, P.H., Kerridge, I. et al. Ethics and Epistemology in Big Data Research. Bioethical Inquiry 14, 489–500 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-017-9771-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-017-9771-3

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