Syracuse University Professional Ethical Responsibility Case Study Essay
Essay 3 Prompt & Final Portfolio Assembly Instructions
Topic: How do the arguments you made about professional ethical responsibility (essay 1) and ethical theory (essay 2) apply to a profession-specific case study?
For your third essay, you should present a RESEARCHED scenario that presents an ethical problem to a professional in your area1 – provide research into that professional topic, including sourced justification for why that topic has real world ethical relevance to the profession. Make sure you introduce your research, as well – if you have consulted an expert in the field, introduce that expert in the body of the paper, including their expertise (what their job is, how long they have worked at it). In terms of research, you should first consider primary investigation, which involves interviewing someone who has experience working in your field (ideally not someone who works at the college, but rather who is currently employed in the field). This interview can serve as evidence for your ethical issue, and represents the kind of valuable research you can do (see tips for doing interviews over email at the end of this document). Other options include secondary research related to reported cases or incidents that can be found in journal articles, newspaper articles, or other forms of vetted reporting.
After establishing what the case involves and why it is professionally relevant (section 1), you should then argue the appropriate way to ethically act in the particular case. In order to do that, you need to, at minimum, do the following:
Section 2: Present your interpretation of what you think the profession would consider the ethical action, making explicit reference to the arguments you made in essay 1 (related to expertise, interpretation, and your code of ethics);
Section 3: Apply the ethical theory you explained and argued for in essay 2 to the case study, and determine what the theory would conclude is the ethical outcome or action (importantly, while you don’t need to re-explain the theory, you need to SHOW the reasoning consistent with the theory and support your conclusion);
Section 4: Offer your own thoughts on the above two conclusions – do they both lead to the same outcome? If not, explain. Would you act according to those conclusions? Why or why not? Consider issues related to agency in bureaucracies, integrity, or whistleblowing.
Remember, YOU ARE ARGUING – make clear, consistent, and accurate claims, and support those claims through quoted reference to the relevant texts.
Paper Specifications:
• Provide in-text citations and a references page.
• Should be 4-6 double-spaced, type-written pages (excluding reference and title page – see final portfolio assembly instructions on the next page).
Essay 3 Prompt & Final Portfolio Assembly Instructions Professional Ethics Fall 2020 Professional Ethics Final Portfolio Assembly Instructions:
Each student will produce a final portfolio of the written work for this class, which will include the two earlier essays (revised for inclusion in the final portfolio), plus the final essay described above.
The final portfolio will include the following:
• Cover Page for Entire Portfolio (Including Content-Specific Title for Overall Portfolio)
• Abstract for Overall Portfolio
o Revised Essay 1 (Profession’s Standards for Ethical Conduct)
o Revised Essay 2 (Ethical Theory Compatible with Profession)
o Essay 3 (Case Study Application)
• Question order matters. Ask your most important question first. It conveys that you take their work seriously and that you aren’t going to waste their time.