Introduction
This brief guidance has been developed by the UK Statistics Authority’s Centre for Applied Data Ethics. It aims to help researchers, statisticians and analysts to consider the public good of their research. Our experience tells us that researchers often struggle with articulating public good.
In particular, researchers using the UK Statistics Authority’s ethics self-assessment tool have identified a need for support in regards to understanding and articulating public good within their research, and so this guidance focuses on:
- Thinking about how public good applies to your work.
- Reflecting on the relative risks and benefits of projects, with a high-level ethics checklist provided to help guide your thought process.
- Considering how to effectively articulate the public good arising from your projects, with accompanying examples of good practice when communicating this.
We will continue to update this guidance in response to user feedback.