Final answer:
The third step in a five-step ethical analysis includes making a list of possible options and outcomes to systematically evaluate each choice's impact on stakeholders and the overall situation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The third step of a five-step ethical analysis typically involves making a physical list of all the options and the potential outcomes. This step is crucial as it systematically records all possible courses of action and their respective consequences.
This aids in evaluating each option on merits such as the impact on stakeholders' rights to privacy, self-determination, and freedom of expression, as well as their potential social, economic, and environmental consequences.
Tools such as consequentialist ethics could be applied in this step, which look at the outcomes of actions to decide what is morally right. Similarly, deontological ethics could influence the appraisal of options by focusing on adherence to duties or rules. By making this list, decision-makers ensure they fully understand the implications of each potential choice.