SPPH 381 A FINAL UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Public health ethics - CORRECT ANSWER The study of moral considerations in policies and
interventions that affect entire communities and populations. It focuses on the tension between individual
rights and collective benefit, and asks when it is acceptable to limit individual freedoms for the sake of
population health.
bioethics - CORRECT ANSWER The philosophical study of ethical issues arising from advances
in scientific and medical technologies. It focuses on individual-level decisions such as patient autonomy,
consent, organ donation, and the clinician-patient relationship
Biomedical Ethics (Clinical Ethics) - CORRECT ANSWER An approach to ethics that centers on
individual patients and the clinician-patient relationship. It emphasizes autonomy, informed consent,
beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice — but is considered insufficient on its own for population-level
public health decisions.
Principalist Framework - CORRECT ANSWER A foundational clinical ethics framework with four
principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Associated with Upshur
(2002) and Petrini (2010) as an example of clinical ethics being applied (with limitations) to public
health.
Nuremberg Code (1947) - CORRECT ANSWER A set of research ethics principles established
after the Nuremberg Trials. Key elements include: voluntary consent, anticipated scientific benefit,
benefits outweighing risks, animal experiments first, avoiding unnecessary suffering, no intentional death
or disability, subject's right to withdraw, and stopping if harm occurs.
Informed Consent - CORRECT ANSWER The ethical requirement to tell potential research
participants about all aspects of a study that might reasonably influence their decision to participate.
Violated in studies like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Paternalism - CORRECT ANSWER An attitude or policy that overrides a person's own wishes
(autonomy) in pursuit of their best interests. Can be broken into soft and hard forms. Examples: helmet
laws, smoking bans, diet restrictions.
, Soft Paternalism - CORRECT ANSWER Intervention justified when a person's autonomy is
compromised (e.g., due to lack of information, impairment, or coercion). Applies to children, uninformed
individuals, or those in mental health crises. Widely considered ethically acceptable.
Hard paternalism - CORRECT ANSWER Intervention that overrides the choices of a fully
informed, competent adult. Examples include mandatory helmet laws or sugary drink restrictions for
adults. Ethically controversial because it conflicts with respect for autonomy.
Harm Principle (Mill) - CORRECT ANSWER The idea that state intervention in individual
behavior is only justified when that behavior harms others, not just oneself. A foundational concept in
liberal political philosophy applied to public health.
Least Restrictive Means - CORRECT ANSWER The principle that public health interventions
should infringe on individual liberty as little as possible. Governments should begin with the least
coercive approach and escalate only if lesser means fail.
Reciprocity - CORRECT ANSWER The principle that if individuals are burdened for the public
good, society owes them support in return (e.g., safe housing, food, basic necessities). An obligation on
social/public entities toward those who sacrifice for collective health.
Transparency - CORRECT ANSWER The principle that public health decision-making must be
open, publicly accountable, and clearly communicated to the people it affects.
Utilitarianism - CORRECT ANSWER An ethical framework that evaluates actions based on their
consequences — specifically, maximizing the greatest good for the greatest number. Useful for
population-level cost-effectiveness analysis but may sacrifice individual rights or fairness.
Deontological (Kantian) Ethics - CORRECT ANSWER An ethical framework focused on duties
and moral rules rather than consequences. Protects individual rights but is less suited to population-level
trade-offs where some individuals may bear burdens for collective benefit.
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Public health ethics - CORRECT ANSWER The study of moral considerations in policies and
interventions that affect entire communities and populations. It focuses on the tension between individual
rights and collective benefit, and asks when it is acceptable to limit individual freedoms for the sake of
population health.
bioethics - CORRECT ANSWER The philosophical study of ethical issues arising from advances
in scientific and medical technologies. It focuses on individual-level decisions such as patient autonomy,
consent, organ donation, and the clinician-patient relationship
Biomedical Ethics (Clinical Ethics) - CORRECT ANSWER An approach to ethics that centers on
individual patients and the clinician-patient relationship. It emphasizes autonomy, informed consent,
beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice — but is considered insufficient on its own for population-level
public health decisions.
Principalist Framework - CORRECT ANSWER A foundational clinical ethics framework with four
principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Associated with Upshur
(2002) and Petrini (2010) as an example of clinical ethics being applied (with limitations) to public
health.
Nuremberg Code (1947) - CORRECT ANSWER A set of research ethics principles established
after the Nuremberg Trials. Key elements include: voluntary consent, anticipated scientific benefit,
benefits outweighing risks, animal experiments first, avoiding unnecessary suffering, no intentional death
or disability, subject's right to withdraw, and stopping if harm occurs.
Informed Consent - CORRECT ANSWER The ethical requirement to tell potential research
participants about all aspects of a study that might reasonably influence their decision to participate.
Violated in studies like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Paternalism - CORRECT ANSWER An attitude or policy that overrides a person's own wishes
(autonomy) in pursuit of their best interests. Can be broken into soft and hard forms. Examples: helmet
laws, smoking bans, diet restrictions.
, Soft Paternalism - CORRECT ANSWER Intervention justified when a person's autonomy is
compromised (e.g., due to lack of information, impairment, or coercion). Applies to children, uninformed
individuals, or those in mental health crises. Widely considered ethically acceptable.
Hard paternalism - CORRECT ANSWER Intervention that overrides the choices of a fully
informed, competent adult. Examples include mandatory helmet laws or sugary drink restrictions for
adults. Ethically controversial because it conflicts with respect for autonomy.
Harm Principle (Mill) - CORRECT ANSWER The idea that state intervention in individual
behavior is only justified when that behavior harms others, not just oneself. A foundational concept in
liberal political philosophy applied to public health.
Least Restrictive Means - CORRECT ANSWER The principle that public health interventions
should infringe on individual liberty as little as possible. Governments should begin with the least
coercive approach and escalate only if lesser means fail.
Reciprocity - CORRECT ANSWER The principle that if individuals are burdened for the public
good, society owes them support in return (e.g., safe housing, food, basic necessities). An obligation on
social/public entities toward those who sacrifice for collective health.
Transparency - CORRECT ANSWER The principle that public health decision-making must be
open, publicly accountable, and clearly communicated to the people it affects.
Utilitarianism - CORRECT ANSWER An ethical framework that evaluates actions based on their
consequences — specifically, maximizing the greatest good for the greatest number. Useful for
population-level cost-effectiveness analysis but may sacrifice individual rights or fairness.
Deontological (Kantian) Ethics - CORRECT ANSWER An ethical framework focused on duties
and moral rules rather than consequences. Protects individual rights but is less suited to population-level
trade-offs where some individuals may bear burdens for collective benefit.
