Introduction to Empirical Bioethics

This course has been discontinued

Information is provided for reference purposes only.

Empirical bioethics is a relatively new field that seeks to integrate ethical (normative) research with empirical research. Academics working in the Centre for Ethics in Medicine at the University of Bristol have world-leading expertise in this suite of methodological approaches. They have developed and delivered training worldwide, and are at the forefront of both research and teaching in this field, with a wealth of first-hand experience.

Course profile

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to empirical bioethics, including the reasons for its development, central theoretical issues, and key methods and methodologies. It aims to introduce you to some of the key problems and challenges in empirical bioethics, but also to explore possible solutions. Importantly, the course aims to develop your ability to think critically about empirical bioethics methodology in relation to your own work, and engage with your peers and tutors.

Please click on the sections below for more information. 

The course will be taught online over 3 full consecutive weekdays (0900 – 1515), with a mixture of live interactive lectures, seminars, and group work. The course is structured to introduce key concepts and then build on that foundation, and so participation in all sessions is necessary in order to benefit fully.

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

  1. understand the development of empirical bioethics;
  2. critically engage with key challenges involved in undertaking empirical bioethics research;
  3. critically engage with key theoretical debates in empirical bioethics and understand their significance;
  4. demonstrate awareness and understanding of a range of empirical bioethics methods and methodologies; and
  5. apply critical methodological insight to their own work.

This course is intended as an introduction for anyone (at any career stage) who is beginning to use, or just wants to know more about, empirical bioethics and its methods.

This course will cover:

  1. the rationale behind empirical bioethics;
  2. structuring and planning an empirical bioethics research project;
  3. literature reviews in empirical bioethics;
  4. dialogical and consultative methods in empirical bioethics;
  5. qualitative data collection in empirical bioethics;
  6. qualitative data analysis in empirical bioethics; and
  7. standards of practice in empirical bioethics.