Value judgments in a COVID-19 vaccination model: A case study in the need for public involvement in health-oriented modelling
Stephanie Harvard, Eric Winsberg, John Symons, Amin Adibi
Abstract
Scientific modelling is a value-laden process: the decisions involved can seldom be made using 'scientific' criteria alone, but rather draw on social and ethical values. In this paper, we draw on a body of philosophical literature to analyze a COVID-19 vaccination model, presenting a case study of social and ethical value judgments in health-oriented modelling. This case study urges us to make value judgments in health-oriented models explicit and interpretable by non-experts and to invite public involvement in making them.
Topics & Concepts
Value (mathematics)Public healthCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Social value orientationsVaccinationPsychologySociologySocial psychologyMedicineComputer scienceEconomicsVirologyMathematical economicsMachine learningNursingDiseasePathologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)Psychology of Moral and Emotional JudgmentPhilosophy and History of ScienceFeminist Epistemology and Gender Studies