CSE 757 Winter 2008

Ethics in Software Engineering Assignment

02/14/2008

1. Read the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Software Engineering Code of
Ethics and Professional Practice. These readings are located in the Software Engineering Ethics folder.

2. Choose one of the ethics cases from the Case Studies folder. Write a 1-2 page single spaced
response to the case, including answers to the following questions:

a. Who are the stakeholders, and what are their stakes?

b. What are the responsibilities of the software professional toward each of the stakeholders?

c. Rank these responsibilities along with a brief explanation as to why you made your
decisions. Ties are allowed.

d. What are the relevant principles from the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
and/or the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice?

e. What are the different courses of action that could be taken? Consider both good and bad
courses of action; not everything must be an extreme position.

f. Propose a course of action to be taken that satisfies as many of the software professional's
obligations as possible. Explain why this is the best course of action.

g. Does this course of action correspond to what you might do in the same situation? Explain
why or why not.

Responses are due in class on Thursday, February 21.

3. Be prepared to present and discuss your case study in class on Thursday, February 21.