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- Masterton, Malin, 1979-
(författare)
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Duties to past persons : The moral standing and posthumous interests of old human remains
- 2012
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Ingår i: More than just bones. - Oslo : The Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees. - 9788276820652 ; , s. 113-137
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Research involving human remains presents complex challenges. For the archaeologist or anthropologist, for example, the remains represent among other things a source of knowledge about people and places, conditions and developments. However, the remains also represent the individuals from whom they originate. And while the dead can no longer be hurt or mistreated in the same way that the living can be hurt or mistreated, there are still strong and obvious reasons for treating them with some level of conscientiousness and consideration. Perhaps most obvious among these reasons is the notion of respect for the individual..
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| 2. |
- Masterton, Malin, 1979-
(författare)
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Duties to Past Persons : Moral Standing and Posthumous Interests of Old Human Remains
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Genetic research has increasing power to analyse old biological remains. Biological traces of well-known historical persons can reveal personal information. The aim of this thesis is to investigate ethical concerns for the dead, within the biological, historical and archaeological sciences. In philosophy there is a long-running discussion on whether or not the dead can be wronged. The good name is proposed as a candidate of a posthumous interest. It is first of all argued that slandering per se can be wrong regardless of posthumous wronging of the dead. Secondly, the concept of change is investigated. It is argued that the property of having a reputation is a relational property. Hence a change in public opinion of a dead person, is also a change in the dead person’s reputation. The third contribution of this thesis is a constructive proposal for how a posthumous identity could be understood using narrative theory. Understanding identity through the life-story opens up the possibility of a gradual loss of identity after death, rather than absolute loss at the moment of death. Fragments of a person‘s narrative identity can persist in other peoples’ narratives, and for some historical persons, their narratives can be found long after their death. Finally, the implications of a remaining narrative identity for the dead are investigated in the area of archaeology and museumology. In the past 30 years, there has been increasing critique about present and past discriminatory handling of old human remains by archaeologists, in museums and in other institutions. Increasing numbers of requests have been made for repatriation or reburial of old human remains. Following an analysis of three current ethical guidelines in handling old human remains, changes to these guidelines are proposed based on a narrative method to a hypothetical claim of reburial.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Masterton, Malin, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Ethical Review Boards are poor advocates for patient perspectives
- 2014
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Ingår i: Research Ethics. - : SAGE Publications. - 1747-0161 .- 2047-6094. ; 10:3, s. 169-181
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In medical research, patients are increasingly recognized with ‘lay knowledge’ but their views are poorly researched. The study objective was to investigate patients’ attitudes to medical research. This is in comparison to lay and expert members on ethical review boards (ERB), as their task is to evaluate the risk−benefits of research, which are ultimately grounded in attitudes and values. From focus-group interviews with patients suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases, a postal questionnaire was developed and sent to patient members of the Swedish Rheumatism Association (n = 1195) and to all ERB board members in Sweden (N = 583). Response rates were 65 percent and the surveys were conducted in Jan−May 2011. Agreement across the groups included priority for medical research on diagnostic and early detection of disease. A key difference was expert and lay ERB members giving higher priority to basic research/research on lifestyle and prevention (primarily benefiting future patients), whereas patients prioritized research on daily function. On this significant point, lay members did not share the opinion of this patient group, indicating that they may be poor representatives for patients’ views. These results call for further research: how can patient perspectives be included in ERB discussions and in what way should patients’ values influence the research agenda.
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| 5. |
- Masterton, Malin, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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In search of the missing subject : narrative identity and posthumous wronging
- 2010
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Ingår i: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C. - : Elsevier BV. - 1369-8486 .- 1879-2499. ; 41:4, s. 340-346
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the advanced methods of analysing old biological material, it is pressing to discuss what should be allowed to be done with human remains, particularly for well documented historical individuals. We argue that Queen Christina of Sweden, who challenged the traditional gender roles, has an interest in maintaining her privacy when there are continued attempts to reveal her ‘true’ gender. In the long-running philosophical debate on posthumous wronging, the fundamental question is: Who is wronged? Our aim is to find this ‘missing subject’ using narrative theory. Narrative identity emphasises the fact that no person is alone in knowing or telling their life story. People’s lives are entangled and parts of the life story of a deceased person can remain in the living realm. Since the narrative identity of a person does not necessarily end upon their death, and this narrative continues to relate directly to the person who once existed, it is the narrative subject that can continue to be posthumously wronged. Queen Christina can no longer maintain her own identity, but we maintain it by our research into her life. We propose three duties relevant for posthumous wronging: the duty of truthfulness, the duty of recognition and the duty to respect privacy.
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| 6. |
- Masterton, Malin, 1979-, et al.
(redaktör/utgivare, creator_code:cre_t)
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ORU2015 Örebro University Research Evaluation 2015 : Evaluation Report
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- ORU2015 – Executive SummaryDuring 2015, all research performed from 2008 to 2014 at Örebro University, as well as research at Örebro University Hospital, has been evaluated. This report – ORU2015 – presents the background, planning and implementation of the research assessment and its results. Chapter I includes the panel evaluations, and chapter II presents the bibliometric data. Of the 38 subunits of evaluation, 8 are within the Faculty of Business, Science and Engineering, 17 are within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 7 within the Faculty of Medicine and Health, and 6 at Region Örebro County’s University Hospital. The evaluation had a meta-analytical approach (see Annex A), and the external multidisciplinary panel assessed the research in each subunit of evaluation (see Annex B). The panel’s evaluation material consisted of a research overview, documentation on academic staff and competence, as well as on funding, self-evaluations and bibliometric data. The self-evaluations by each subunit addressed (i) scientific quality and scientific impact, (ii) impact and outreach, (iii) internationalisation, and (iv) research – education interaction. Each overarching evaluation unit was also assessed, including a SWOT analysis, by the respective heads of schools and deans. Apart from the self-evaluations, the material was retrieved from the university databases, Web of Science and Academic Archive Online (DiVA). The subunits had the opportunity to update their research information for the research overview prior to making the material available to the panel. The fourteen panellists, representing economics, natural sciences and technology, humanities, social sciences, medicine and health sciences, met for two days in October at Örebro University for the evaluation discussions. The agreed evaluation statements were delivered shortly thereafter. The great variability in the subunits’ scientific practices, scale, and establishment had to be accounted for in the panel evaluations. The evaluation subunits range from very large (up to 60 researchers), to medium sized (about 20 researchers), and to quite small subunits (fewer than nine researchers). The points of reference for the panel’s statements were the (i) quality of research, (ii) research environment and infrastructure, (iii) scientific and social interaction and (iv) future potential. Gradings ranged between Excellent (5) and Insufficient (1). The key data in the bibliometric assessment was scientific impact, vitality, productivity and international visibility, as indicated by the publications of each subunit. It can be seen from the panel statement of a subunit and the matching bibliometric data that these two assessments correspond to a large extent, but not completely.It is concluded from the panel evaluation that there are Excellent (5), Very Good (4), Good (3), Sufficient (2), as well as Insufficient (1) subunits at the university. A majority of the fourteen subunits that performed well (grade 3 – 5) are medium-sized, whilst the majority of the sixteen weakly performing subunits (grade 1 – 2) are small in size. Of course, for the humanities and social sciences, the Web of Science data only contains output to a limited degree. Therefore data from DiVA has been used and compared as well. For some subunits this makes a difference, but of the 16 subunits that show a weak performance according to Web of Science data, ten also perform weakly as shown in DiVA. Only three of these subunits score Good and one Very Good in DiVA.It can be seen from ORU2015 that the research volume, especially expressed in scientific publications per year and citations, has roughly doubled since ÖRE2010. In 2014, the total number of publications in Web of Science by researchers at the university and the university hospital reached some 600 and the number of citations were 14,000 the same year. The ‘findings’ of ORU2015 provide an important basis for decisions by leaders at all levels of the university in terms of strategic planning, support, and development of the research for the future.
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| 7. |
- Masterton, Malin, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Patients’ attitudes towards animal testing : “To conduct research on animals is, I suppose, a necessary evil”
- 2014
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Ingår i: BioSocieties. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1745-8552 .- 1745-8560. ; 9:1, s. 24-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A strong argument for the practice of animal testing in medical research is the potential benefit to patients in getting improved pain relief, minimising morbidity and mortality. However, patients’ opinions on the ethics of animal testing are seldom sought, despite their role as principal stakeholders. This study compared the attitudes of patients and researchers on animal testing. Focus-group interviews were held with patients suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases, resulting in a questionnaire that was distributed January–May 2011. The questionnaire was posted to patient members of the Swedish Rheumatism Association (n=1195) and to all scientific experts serving on Ethical Review Boards in Sweden (n=364), with response rates of 65 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively. Results show that patients hold a positive stance towards animal testing, but with many caveats, and the level of support is comparable to those held by the general public found in national surveys. A clear majority of researchers were positive towards animal testing, and large statistical differences between patients and researchers were found regarding their attitudes towards testing animals commonly held as pets (P<0.001). Women were more critical than men regarding which species are used for what purposes (P<0.001). Researchers need to be aware that their more positive attitude towards animal testing is not shared to an equal degree with patients, who are the intended end-users and beneficiaries of medical research. The moral basis for using animals in research needs to be further discussed by all stakeholders.
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