AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

The Challenges of Ethics Consulting in the Biotechnology Industry

Main | Consulting Surveys | Survey Responses | Bibliography | Codes of Ethics |

 

Company Survey Responses

The initial survey, plus a follow-up reminder sent one month after the surveys were due, yielded 19 useable responses, a 15% response rate. Of those 19, eight explicitly declined to respond. Reasons for declining included: no ethics issues at the company (1); the recipient of the survey did not have the knowledge to respond and gave no indication of who in the company would be more suitable (4); confidentially, with no further elaboration (1); and those who gave no reason (2). We were left, therefore, with responses from 11 different companies.

Click here to access the responses.

 

Consultant Survey Responses

The initial survey, plus several follow-up emails after the surveys were due, netted 72 useable responses, a 45% response rate. Of the 72 responses, 51 declined to answer the survey for these reasons: 49 reported no consulting experience with biotechnology companies; 1 claimed not to be an ethicist; and 1 gave no reason. This meant that we had 21 responses from which the data reported below are based.

Click here to access the responses.

 

Special thanks to Melissa Pollak for her assistance in compiling the responses to both surveys and in preparing these two reports.