Pavarini et al. should be congratulated to their highly valuable contribution shedding light on methodological innovation for bioethics in the digital era. I see a great potential in their a...

Design bioethics, as defined by Pavarini et al. is “purpose-built, technology-driven research tools” that provide “the chance to leverage technological advances at the interface of engin...

Background Over the last decades, the neurosciences, behavioral sciences, and the social sciences have all seen a rapid development of innovative research methods. The field of bioethics, however, has trailed behind in methodological innovation. Despite the so-called “empirical turn” in bioethics, research methodology for project development, data collection and analysis, and dissemination has remained largely restricted to surveys, interviews, and research papers. We have previously argued for a “Design Bioethics” approach to empirical bioethics methodology, which develops purpose-built methods for investigation (...) of bioethical concerns. In this paper we compare a research tool created using a design bioethics approach to a “methods-as-usual” approach in empirical bioethics.Methods Our study compared dimensions of engagement with a digital game we created, called “Tracing Tomorrow,” to a standard vignette survey. The two tools investigated the same subject matter, digital phenotyping for mental health, in a sample of 301 UK adolescents.Results Participants who played the game reported a greater sense of presence, emotional engagement, cognitive absorption, and mental health ethics insight, compared to participants who completed the vignette survey. Perceived authenticity and curiosity/motivation to learn more was equivalent for both methods.Conclusion The results of this study highlights the importance of purpose-built methodology for empirical bioethics research. (shrink)

Design bioethics provides a promising framework for incorporating technological design into bioethics research and education. Beyond the development of digital empirical tool...

In their Target Article, “Design Bioethics: A Theoretical Framework and Argument for Innovation in Bioethics Research,” Pavarini et al. argue for the potential of digital tools—particularly...

Frantic warnings about the threat the Internet poses to our privacy are now a dime-a-dozen. Though gallons of ink have been spilled on the topic, it has largely gone unanalyzed from the perspective...

Pavarini et al. argue for the potential benefits of using games and other technologies to collect empirical data to enhance bioethics research. They propose a methodology called “design bioe...

Historically, empirical research in bioethics has drawn on methods developed within the social sciences, including qualitative interviews, focus groups, ethnographic studies, and opinion surveys, t...

As highlighted by Pavarini et al., researchers in the field of bioethics have to remain critical and reflexive on the methodology and on the tools they use for their research purpose because...

In their article, Pavarani and colleagues offer a vision of evolutionary bioethics that focuses on innovation and empirical research as a means to enrich the field of bioethics. Empirical bi...