RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Assignment 1 Utilitarian ethical analysis
Due:31 March 2017 11.00 PM
Length:1,000 words maximum
Weighting:10%
You must follow the ‘Assignment Planning’ activities in the SOC10236 Study Guide and all relevant online discussions concerning this assessment to perform well in this assignment.
You are required to select one of the five topics listed below and clearly define one focused and specific ethical questionwhich you will analyse in parts a to f.
The five topics are
1. Information technology and/or social media;
2. Employment practices of multinational corporations;
3. The taking of life: human or animal;
4. The (non) response of business to climate change;
5. Ethical issues relevant to friends and/or family.
Note: Save your assignment as a word document with the following file name:
Topic Number ? Your name.docx
Required tasks:
a. Select one of the five topics.
Clearly and concisely define a specific ethical questionin no more than one short sentence(1 mark).
Note: This is the most important stage of your assignment and it is not as easy as it seems. If you don’t clearly define the ethical problem/question then you cannot perform a focused ethical analysis. It is strongly recommended that you follow the guidelines for forming ethical questions posted on the online discussion forumand engage in the online and class discussions setup for this purpose.

b. Explain why this specific ethical problem is important and in need of analysis?
(2 marks)
c. Identify and fully reference facts relevant to the analysis of your ethical question.(2 marks)
d. Identify gaps in current understanding of this problem. What assumptions are required to fill these knowledgegaps? (1 mark)
e. Analyse the ethical act central to your ethical questionusing act utilitarianism by forecasting three important positive and three important negative consequences. (3 marks)
f. Provide an ethical conclusion which compares expected positive with negative consequences including an estimate as to whether net utility will rise or fall. (1 mark)
(1marks)
To assist your understanding, interpretation and planning for this assignment a hypothetical example is provided on the online discussion forum.