"Fostering an Intellectual Environment for Students through Research: Integrating Science, Law, and Societal Needs"

BCTR Talks at Twelve

During the last two years Elizabeth Karns has been interviewing researchers at all stages of their careers asking the same questions: what does ethics mean for data analysis; can you give an example; and how do you teach others these ideas? Students have continued asking these questions of another sixty researchers. The result is a rich set of ideas about conflicts of interest, problems in replication, impact of analytical choices, decisions that snowball, and some solutions that everyone can use. She argues that it is not enough to instruct on research methods:  We need to model, discuss, and teach ethical decision making in data analysis.

M. Elizabeth Karns, M.P.H., J.D., is a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Statistics at the ILR School. She brings her epidemiology practice and legal experience to Cornell to teach courses such as Statistics in Law and Policy, Policy by the Numbers: Empirical Evidence, and Ethics of Data Analysis. Karns has been an elected government official and served on a multi-county municipal health insurance consortium board. Currently she is the Cornell Advisor to Complainants who are asserting their rights through the University Policies. She holds a BA in Economics from Reed College, a MPH from Rutgers, and a JD from Quinnipiac Law School.

This talk is open to all. Lunch will be served. Metered parking is available in the Plantations lot across the road from Beebe Hall.