The ethics of data utilisation: a comparison between epidemiology and journalism
- 19 February 1994
- Vol. 308 (6927) , 522-523
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.308.6927.522
Abstract
Aims and tasks Epidemiologists and journalists have much in common. Both are expected to meet the public's need for knowledge and to provide information that will help individual and community decisions. Both journalism and research activities are also essential prerequisites for an open society, providing knowledge about the activities of those in power and the effects of their activities. Many epidemiologists and journalists also believe they have a duty to identify and publicise inequity in the community. Epidemiologists and journalists use their data in different ways. While the focus of interest in journalism often tends to be an identified individual, epidemiologists are not interested in the individual as such. They need data related to an individual only to link data - for example, from an occupation register to data in a cancer register in order to analyse the risk for cancer in a certain occupation. The two professional groups also differ in their methods and use of confidential information. Journalists get their information any way they can; epidemiologists collect their data according to strict rules and use confidential information only after special permission.Keywords
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